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REMINISCENCES 



AND 



SKETCHES, 



Historical and Biographical 



By 

William M. Mali 







V / y / 



HAKkiSP.rk(., I'.v. : 

Mi:v]:ks I'rixtixc, HorsK 



Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1890, by WllJiam M. 
Hall, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Pagk. 

1. Thaddeus Stevens, 1 

2. The Sermon on the Mount. Is it a Code of Ethics tor the 

Government of our Conduct in this Life? .'J5 

A. The Packer's Path, and an Old Indian Trader's Account Book, 41 

4. An Ancient Meeting-House and a Country Graveyard. . . . 50 

5. Slave Catching in Bedford County, o5 

(). Stoppage of Flow of Blood by Pepeatiug a Verse from Scrip- 
ture, • (>1 

7. The Traveling Salesman (i8 

8. David Alexander • . . . . 74 

f>. Is Selling Li({Uor a Sin, prr se / 80 

10. A Hero and a Sermon 84 

11. Claycomb's Ride H8 

12. Leslie's Apology, 94 

13. The Tipstaves, 5)8 

14. A Novel Writ 100 

ir,. A Cruel Wag, ' . . . . 105 

Kk a Jury Trial, 108 

17. Some Objections to Allowing Paitics to be Witnesses. ... Ill 

IH. The Battle of Saxton 115 

10. The Ancient and Veneralde Order of Lcclam])sis N'itis. . . 121 

20. E<iuality, 128 

21. Enjoyable Egotism I'M) 

22. The Uncertianty of History 133 

23. The Necessity for Good Nature on Shi^i-Board 135 

24. Did You See any Whales? 138 

(iii) 



Table of Conii'.tiiH. 



PA.iK. 

2'k Solojuoii's Wisdom 1:;«) 

:>(). Judicial kolx's U:; 

27. A 'Prip 1<) (Jettysluuo; l.Vi 

:>S. TIr' Stajit-Drivt'i and tlic .Iud<ie ]<;•> 

r>}). An Unrecorded Battle l«;s 

;>(). A Chapter of IJedtord History — Simon Kenton, tlie Indian 

Hater, and Simon (Jirly. the Ucnciiade \T.\ 

:\\. A Cha))ter of IJedtoid History — Washington. Houijuet and 

Forbes is-i 

:5:>. Clnonicles<.n'.edlord, — Isaac i.ii)i)le William Kreiuhbanm. 1S7 

'X\. (general llowman and the IJedtbrd (razette, 19:i 

;}4. Bloody kun 19(i 

o"). Historical Sketch of the Sixteenth .ludicial Distiict. . . . 198 

3G. The I'resbyterian Meeting-Honse :i08 

'M. Decoration Day — .\n .\ddress 2Bi 

;is. Mr. Stanton's Discharge of >rilitary Prisoners 224 

:«). Overtaken by Justice 238 

40. Forty Years Ago, 240 

41. Andrew Jack.son Ogh" 244 

42. David Lewis, the Robber, 24!) 



THADDEUS STEVENS. 



"^rO son of Pennsylvanici need be ashamed of the 
state of his nativity. In climate, soil, mineral 
wealth, agricultural in-oducts, pure air and water, diver- 
sified scenery, and a hardy, intelligent, industrious, 
honest and patriotic population, she has no superior. 
Nor has this central state of the Union been lacking- in 
great men. She has given to the nation a long- list of 
distinguished statesmen, soldiers, philanthropists, phil- 
osophers, patriots, jurists, theologians, travelers, inven- 
tors and financiers, in the memories of whose lives her 
citizens may well feel a glow of proper pride. But the 
Pennsylvanian whose biography, if it could be clearly 
and fully portrayed in its g-eneral scope and its minute 
details, would make the most interesting- reading-, is 
Thaddeus Stevens. 

I call him a Pennsylvanian althoug-h he was not a na- 
tive. Like Franklin, and Gallatin, and Stanton, he was 
a Pennsylvanian by adoption. But here he passed his 
days from early manhood until declining- age, and be- 
came thoroughly identified with the public life of the 
state. He was born at Danville, Caledonia county, Ver- 
mont, the state that Stephen A. Douglas complimened 
with the remark that it was a good state to emigrate 
from, on tlio 4th day of Ai)ril, 1792, and graduated at 
Dartmouth College, in 1814, at the age of twenty -two 

(1) 



Reminiscences and Sketches. 



years, and came to Pennsylvania in 1815, to the town of 
York, where he taught school and prosecuted the study 
of the law, which he had previously beg-un at Peacham, 
in his native comity, in Vermont. The rules of court 
of the York district required the reading of law in the 
office of a practicing attorney to the exclusion of every 
other avocation or pursuit; to avoid this requirement 
Mr. Stevens went to Belair, in the adjoining county of 
Harford, Maryland, and was there examined and admit- 
ted to practice in August, 1816, and immediately re- 
tm-ned to Pennsylvania and opened a law office at Get- 
tysburg, Adams county. He represented Adams county 
in the Pennsylvania legislature from 1833 to 1840, and 
was a member of the convention to revise the constitu- 
tion in 1837-38. In 1842 he removed to Lancaster, as 
affording him a larger field for the practice of the law, 
and also, doubtless, mth a view to a congressional career, 
from which he seemed to be shut out at Gettysburg. 
He was elected to congress from that county in 1848 and 
reelected in 1850. He was again elected in 1858, and 
continued to serve in congress until his death, in Wash- 
ington city, on the 11th of August, 1868, aged seventy- 
six years foiu* months and seven days. And his grave 
is at Lancaster in the obscure cemetery which he himself 
selected as the place for the interment of his mortal re- 
mains, because the other cemeteries were exclusivelj' for 
whites. The inscription on his tomb, prepared by him- 
self, is as follows : 

"I repose in this quiet and secluded sj^ot not from any 
natural preference for solitude, but finding other ceme- 
teries limited by charter rules as to race, I have chosen 
it that I might be enabled to illustrate in my death the 



Thaddeus Stevens. 



principle wliicli I have advocated through a long- life — 
Equality of man before his Creator." 

Mr. Edward McPherson, who read law with Mr. Ste- 
vens and is the executor of his will, has been expected 
to write his biography, and has gathered a good deal of 
material to that end. No man is more competent to per- 
form that duty ; for it is a duty, a debt owed by the public 
to the memory of its distinguished dead, for the benefit 
of the living and of future generations, that the life of 
a great man shall be chronicled and handed down to pos- 
terity. The long delay in the performance induces the 
fear that Mr. McPherson's other cares and duties may 
cause him to postpone the much-desired work until he 
dies without accomplishing it. 

The little incidents of daily life are those which show 
a man's real character, and the portrayal of them is nec- 
essary to any true biography. You want to see the 
inner life of the man, the qualities of mind and heart 
which constitute his individuality. All along Mr. Ste- 
vens' pathway were strewn with the affluent hand of one 
possessed of infinite riches, touches of exquisite wit and 
sarcasm and quickness of repartee that needed the pen 
of a Boswell to gather them as they fell. But he never 
would have tolerated such a satellite for a day. He had 
no confidants and permitted no close intimates. He had 
none of the vanity of smaller men, and never posed for 
posterity. 

Mr. Stevens' career in congress is not likely to perish 
from men's memories. Much of it is. preserved in the 
congressional records. His earnest, brave, far-seeing, 
self-reliant, patriotic and determined course as chairman 
of the Committee of Ways and Means, without ever a 



Reminiscences cind Sketches. 



vacillation or a doubt, during- the war and the period of re- 
construction, is inwoven with the history of the country. 
The whole question of finances, both of revenue and expen- 
diture, the internal revenue system, the currency system, 
the national bank system and the form of the national 
debt, were under his direction. Mr. Maynard, of Ten- 
nessee, speaking- of his service in congress with Mr. 8., 
says: 

"AVlien, the next winter, we met again as members of 
the new cong-ress all was changed. A million of men 
were in arms and the life of the nation hung upon the 
issue of battle. We were both upon the Committee of 
Ways and Means, charged, as the House was at that time 
organized, with the examination of all financial questions, 
both of revenue and expenditui-e, and with the prepara- 
tion of revenue bills, which, under the constitution, must 
originate in the House. The expenditures of the gov- 
ernment, never less than two millions a day, and some- 
times reaching three millions, made a demand upon the 
public resources wholly without precedent, and greatly 
beyond what many regarded as oiu* ability to meet. Be- 
sides intervention by at least two of the great European 
XDOwers for months seemed imminent, and a struggle be- 
tween the Republic and the united ci\'ilized world, and 
what was still more disheartening to one in the position 
of Mr. Stevens, he lacked confidence in the abilitj^ and 
skill both of our civil and military leaders, and in some 
important instances he had little faith in their devotion 
to the cause so dear to the general heart. The early de- 
cisions of the field were not always assuring, and even 
here there were not a few timid and unbelieving, ready 
to flee at the first sign of irresolution on the part of our 



Thaddeus Steveiis. 



leader. Yet neither on the floor nor in the committee 
room did his courag-e once weaken or his purpose g-row 
infirm. On the contrary we saw his energies increase 
with every new emerg-ency, and his spirit rise buoyant as 
those around him became more desponding. Among the 
elements of our final success his unfaltering- leadership at 
this cardinal period was not the least. AVliile events 
were shaping- themselves and the public judgment was 
baffled by the novelty of the situation, weakness, doubt, 
instability in that quarter might have been fatal. The 
unabated hostility toward him by the partisans of the 
rebellion is explained only by the consciousness of his 
imyielding and overmastering power." 

But his life as a school teacher, at the bar, in the Penn- 
sylvania legislature, in the constitutional convention, as 
canal commissioner, as the leader of Governor Ritner's 
administration, and his hon mots in professional and social 
intercourse, will soon be hard to gather up and i^ortray 
fully. Time is fast removing his contemporaries and sur- 
rounding it all with an obscming haze. Mr. McPherson 
ought to go on with his work, or, failing this, some other 
hand ought to come to the rescue. 

The sketch of Mr. E. B. Callender (Boston, 1882), en- 
titled, "Thaddeus Stevens, Commoner," is admirable as 
far as it goes, but it is very meagre, and, indeed, almost 
entirely deficient in regard to his early life as a school 
boy, and college student, and school teacher, and law 
student, and his professional life as a member of the bar, 
and his career in the Pennsylvania legislature, and as 
canal commissioner, and as the chief leader of the anti- 
masonic party of this state. 

Like a large majority of the men who rise to })romi- 



Reminiscences and S kef dies. 



nence in any sphere of life in this country, Mr. Stevens 
had res anynsfa domi, the stimuhis of poverty. His 
parents were poor. His father enlisted in the war of 
1812 and died in the service. And like most other g-reat 
men he g-ot his g-reat qualities from his mother. He 
cherished her memory in affectionate devotion as long as 
life endured. In the last year of his life he wrote his 
will and set ajoart a sum to provide an annual income to 
pay the sexton to keep his mother's grave in good order, 
"and, plant roses and other clieerful flowers at each of the 
four corners of said grave every spring," and bequeathed 
one thousand dollars in aid of the establishment at Lancas- 
ter of a Baptist church, of which society his mother was a 
member, saying, "I do this out of respect to the memory 
of my mother, to whom I owe whatever little prosperity 
I have had on earth, which, small as it is, I desire em- 
phatically to acknowledge." 

Mr. Stevens was club-footed in one foot, and was some- 
what lame and Avalked with a cane. He had a brother 
who was club-footed in both feet. Notwithstanding- this 
deformity he was a man of fine physical proportions and 
powers, and excelled in manly sports. He was a good 
swimmer. He could throw the ' long- bullet ' further and 
kick a hat otf a higher peg than any other man in Get- 
tysburg. His portrait, at the age of forty -five probably, 
which hangs in the building connected with the colleg-e 
at Gettysburg, which, in honor of his friendship for the 
institution and the interest he manifested in its success, 
is appropriately named " Stevens Hall," is that of a very 
handsome man. He rode well on horse-back and, as a 
young man, was very fond of that exercise. It enabled 
him to appear to advantage, freed from the infirmit}" of 



Thaddeus Stevens. 



lameness which marred his progress as a pedestrian. 
He was fond of fox-hunting", horse-racing and cock-fight- 
ing-, and used to ride over to the adjoining counties in 
Maryland to witness these sports. 

How far the deformed foot influenced his character, 
might be an interesting inquiry. That it had some effect 
is certain. He was a master of sarcasm, and the cutting 
strokes were sometimes merciless. On one occasion, in 
the Pennsylvania legislature, when he was sitting with 
his distorted foot up on the edge of his desk, an attitude 
in which he seemed to like to place himself, as if to ob- 
trude the deformity upon the vision, perhaiDS from a feel- 
ing that it would not be manly to conceal his defect, a 
bright little boy in the innocence and bravery of child- 
hood, advanced near to and looked intently at it. With 
a scowling expression of countenance Stevens thrust his 
foot close to the little fellow's face and frightened him with 
the fierce remark, "There, look at it! it won't bite! it's 
not a snake !" 

But while his contemporaries say he used his sarcasm 
cruelly at times, struck wdth venom as if he hated his 
fellowmen, ihej bear undi^dded testimony to many acts 
of generosity and kindness to the poor and needy, and 
that he was genial and attractive to young men. Wlien 
Mr. R., lately one of the leaders of the Lancaster county 
bar, first went to Lancaster, as a young man, he had letters 
of introduction to F. and Stevens. F. discouraged him 
from settling there and repelled him ^vith coldness. 
St(wens met him i^leasantly ; said it was a good place for 
a thorough young lawyer, and at the first court came 
stumping into his office and asked him to go into a case 
with him ; said he wanted to see the stuff he was made of. 



8 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

Perhaps the incidents of the trial of the A. will-case 
give a fair illustration of Stevens' wit and sarcasm and 
knowledge of human nature, and adroitness as a jiuy 
la^vyer. Colonel A. was an old merchant resident of McCon- 
nellsburg, Fulton county, Pennsylvania, who had groT^ii 
rich for that time and place by careful thrift and econ- 
omy and by the accumulation of money at interest from a 
mere lapse of time. He had doubtless full testamentary 
capacity, tested by the established standard of the deci- 
sions, namely, knowledge of what estate he had to dispose 
of and who were the proper objects of his bounty. But he 
had grown dissatisfied with his children's habits of spend- 
ing money — they did not save or manage as he did. His 
hard-earned dollars and his careful accumulations, wheia 
they came into their hands, circulated vdi\\ far too much 
rapidity and improvident disregard of the future to meet 
his frugal ideas, and so he provided for them a scanty 
yearlj^ income and tied up the principal by devising it to 
his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He made 
Mr. L., of Bedford, a sux^erannuated lawyer, liis exix-utor 
and trustee. The children filed a caveat against the pro- 
bate of the will, alleging want of testamentary capacity, 
on the ground of some insane misconception with reg^ard 
to their inability to manage affairs, and employed Mr. 
Stevens, and procured a change of venue to Franklin 
coimty, where the case was tried before Judge F. M. 
Kimmell and a jury. Mr. McL., who was of counsel 
for the executor, opened his side of the case in a care- 
fully prepared speech, in which he said a man ought to 
be allowed to dispose of his own hard earnings as suited 
his own ideas, that in all ages of the world among civ- 
ilized nations he was allowed to do so — that it was - a 



Thaddeus Stevens. 



stimulus to thrift, etc., etc., that Mr. A.'s une^rateful chih 
di'en were selfishly tryin^- to destroy and set aside their 
kind old father's will, and seeking to cast obloquy upon 
his memory and make it appear that the strono--minded 
old man Avas an imbecile, and that, in this ungracious 
effort, they had brought here, all the way from Lancaster, 
the distinguished Mr. Stevens. At this point Mr. Stevens 
arose, and with a demure look of innocence and injury in 
his countenance, quietly said, "May it please your 
Honor, I ask the protection of the court,' and then, after 
a long pause, and when silent expectation had hushed all 
the noises of the court room, added, "I never said any- 
thing like that of Mr. McL." The audience laughed and 
Mr. McL. was disconcerted and floundered to the end of 
his speech, and the effect of a really forcible argument 
was dissipated with a single shot. 

The Eeverend Mr. W. had testified, on behalf of the ex- 
ecutor, to some mismanagement of certain property by 
one of the heirs, a female. The examination of the wit- 
ness by Mr. L. had been prolix and unnecessarily di-awn 
out, so that the court asked him once or twice if he was 
not done. Meanwhile Stevens read, or appeared to read, 
a newspaper, as if what was going on was tiresome and 
of no moment, and finally the court said, "Mr. Stevens 
the witness is in your hands." Stevens appeared not to 
hear, so that the court had to repeat it to him. Arousing, 
as if from a state of half sleepiness, Stevens said, "I 
have no cross-examination." The wdtness left the stand. 
TMien he had gone half-way across the court room, Mr. 
Stevens said, " Stop a moment, Mr. W., I have a single 
question." The witness stopped, standing in a most con- 
spicuous position with all eyes upon him, and Stevens said, 



10 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

"Pray, how old is the g-ood lady with regard to whom 
yon have been testifying ?" Pansing a while to think, the 
witness said, "Well, really, I can't tell exactly, but I think 
about fifty." "You can go, sir, I care nothing about 
women when they arrive at that age !" 

In the course of the trial Mr. L., the executor, who was 
active in trying the case, affected a certain supercilious- 
ness of manner towards Mr. Stevens. After considerable 
forbearance Mr. Stevens finally said to one of the wit- 
nesses for the will, "Sir, do you know Mr. L., of Bed- 
ford?" The witness looked astonished at such a question. 
Mr. L. was then within a few feet of him, and had been 
conducting his examination for a half hour. But he 
finally stammered "yes." "AVell, sir, what e\ddence of Col- 
onel A. 's testamentary capacity do you think it was that he 
selected Mr. L. for his executor ?" 

In the trial of the case of Somerville against Jackson, 
at HoUidaysburg, Mr. M., an old and able Huntingdon 
lawyer, was arguing the case to the jury. Mr. Stevens, 
who was to follow, was talking to some ladies in a retired 
corner of the room. Mr. M. had a harsh voice and a 
queer way of letting it rise and fall at intervals, at times 
sinking away almost to a whisper. The ladies had come 
to hear Stevens, and were impatient to have him begin. 
In one of the die-away spells of Mr. M.'s speech, Mrs. B., 
thinking he was done, said, "There, there, Mr. Stevens, 
Mr. M. is c|one." Before the words were fairly out, how- 
ever, Mr. M.'s voice was heard in its rising inflection, and 
Stevens quickly rephed, "Not at all, Mrs. B., he was only 
greasing Ids saiv / 

In the Pennsylvania legislature John B. DeFord, of 
UniontowTi, a new member, was anxious to measure 



Thaddeus Stevens. 11 



swords with Mr. Stevens. Aiising- to oppose a bill wliicli 
Mr. Stevens advocated, DeFord said, at the top of bis 
lung-s, "Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman iVom 
Adams does not imderstand this bill !" " Oh ! very likely, 
very likely," said Mr. Stevens, " Balaam's ass saw the 
ang-el when his master did not." 

Stevens Avas always fond of cards, and j^layed occa- 
sionally for money. Stepping- into a faro-bank with a 
friend for a few minutes he won a hundred dollars and 
stuffed it carelessly into his vest pocket. He set no store 
by money, and was g-enerous and liberal with it. As he 
left the door of the g-ambling-house he w^as accosted by a 
minister of the gospel, who asked him for a donation to 
some benevolent object connected with his denomination. 
Stevens immediately pulled out the hundred dollar bill 
from his pocket and gave it to the astonished preacher 
who was profuse in his thanks, and said it was a special 
pro\ddence in direct answer to his prayers. Stevens 
walked off, remarking to his companion, "How inscruta- 
ble are the ways of Providence!" 

At the time of the completion of the frescoes of the 
dome of the capitol at Washington, there was a low 
theatre, called the Canterbiuy, where the performances 
were made more lively than respectable by certain semi- 
nude dancing girls. The frescoes, which had been long 
in preparation, rei)resent a sort of fanciful apotheosis of 
General Washington, in which he is surrounded by divers 
mythological female figures rather scantily clad. When 
the scaffolding was first removed so that the paintings 
were visible from below, some one met Stevens passing- 
through the rotunda, and, glancing up, said, "Mr. Stevens 
what is that?" "Well," said he, "I hardly know, unless 



12 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



it is General Washing-ton dancino;- Avitli the Canterbury 
g-irls." 

In the trial of a case at Chambersburg", Dr. S., a leading- 
physician and eleg-ant g-entleman, was a witness against 
Stevens' client. A quack doctor named O. was also a wit- 
ness. By way of belittling- Dr. S.'s testimony, Stevens, in 
commenting- on it to the jury, jDrnposely misnamed Dr. S. 
and called him Dr. O. This being- reported to Dr. S he 
fell into a towering rage and said he would cane Stevens, 
and straightway started toward the court house for that 
avowed purpose, with the crowd following. He met 
Stevens coming out of court, stumping down the court 
house stei:>s, and approaching him, said brusquely, " Mr. 
Stevens, I understand that in commenting on my testi- 
mony you called me Dr. O." "Did I?" said Stevens, " I 
am very sorry for it, when I meet Dr. O. I will apologize." 
The crowd laughed and the Doctor joined in. 

A distinguished Pennsylvania jurist, who had occux)ied 
a position on the bench for a quarter of a century, once 
remarked that there were three classes of cases in which 
jurors are not to be trusted, viz., when there is a pretty 
woman in the case, when a surety is called upon to pay 
money for which he received no actual value, and where 
there is a controversy about a will in which the testator 
has made an unequal distribution of his property among 
his children. The strong inclination of the jury under the 
manipulations of a skilful advocate, is not to ascertain 
what the man's will really is, but to make a will for 
him according to their ideas of justice, with a profound 
conviction that equahty is justice. Divers of Mr. Stevens' 
triumiihs at the bar were in cases of this class, and 
some of them were achieved by adroit cross-examination 



TliadAens Stevens. 13 



alone. A case of this kind is handed down among- the 
traditions of the bar. A^ justice of the peace who acted 
as a county scrivener, and was a very worthy man, who 
stood well among- his neighbors, had the vice, not very 
imcommon among- Pennsylvanians of Scotch-Irish de- 
scent fifty years ag-o, of occasional spells of inebriety. 
In one of these he had passed the night, oblivious of his 
surroundings, in a gutter by the road-side, not far from 
the house of Farmer A. Some months after this, when 
he was duly sober, he acted as scrivener in drawing A.'s 
will, and was the chief attesting- witness to the will, in 
w^hich A. made wiiat seemed to be a very unequal distri- 
bution of his property among his children. The will 
was contested and Mr. Stevens was employed to set it 
aside. The justice was sworn and teslified to the genu- 
ineness of the sig-nature, and that he hacV-^ttested it in 
the presence of the testator and at his request, and that 
he was of somid mind and disposing- memory, and was 
handed over to Mr. Stevens for cross-examination, which 
was somewhat as follows; " You attested this instrument, 
Squire B., in the presence of the testator and at his re- 
quest?" "Yes, sir, I did." "You say he was of sound 
mind and disi^osing memory ? " " Yes, sir, I do." " Now, 
sir, what was the condition of your own mind and mem- 
ory at the time ? Were you not grossly intoxicated ? " 
" No, sir ! No, sir ! " " Did you not fall in the g-utter by 
the way -side within a hundred yards of A.'s house and 
pass the night there in beastly drunkenness "? " The oppos- 
ing- counsel here arose (as Stevens expected him to do) 
and objected to the question as improper and offensive 
to the witness. Mr. Stevens immediately said he would 
not press it, and the case closed. Wlien he came to argue 



14 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

the case to the jury, avIio were all aware of Squire B.'s 
habits, he assumed that the drunkenness was at the time 
of the \\T:itino;- of the will, and asked what reliance could 
be put on the testimony of a witness, however worthy a 
man he was, who fell into the gutter, before he g-ot a 
hundred yards away from the house, so drunk that he did 
not know himself. The jury set aside the will. 

His powers of sarcasm were tremendous. He could 
make words wound with the terrific laceration of a lash ; 
but he did not, certainly not in his later years, use this 
power without provocation and some ground of excuse. 

In opposing some bill in the Pennsylvania leg-islature, 
Mr. F. made a bitter attack on Stevens, calling- him the 
high priest of anti-masonry. At the conclusion of a 
short speech on t'-'ie merits of the bill, Mr. Stevens, as he 
was about to tVike his seat, said in reply to Mr. F., "Mr. 
Speaker, it will not be expected of me to notice a thing 
which has crawled into this House and adheres to one of 
the seats by its own slime." 

A member, by his conversation, induced Stevens to think 
lie would vote for a certain measure. Under party diill 
he voted against it. Afte wards, meeting him, Stevens 
said, "Mr. B., are you a married man ?*' "Yes." "Have 
you any children ?" " Yes, several." " I am sorry to hear 
that; I was in hopes, sir, you were the last of your race." 

On one occasion, in congress, when Mr. Conkling was 
a young" man, appearing as if he had just stepped from a 
band-box and the hands of a barber, with a cork-screw 
cm-1 beautifullj^ arranged on his forehead, he arose whilst 
Stevens was speaking and imperiously demanded his 
reasons for certain actions in relation to a matter then 
pending. Stevens turned toward him and with an intui- 



Thaddeus Stevens. 15 



tive perceiition of the vulnerable point, calmh^ said, 
" Young" man, unscrew that curl so that you can g-et your 
feet doTVTi flat on the floor, and I'll talk to you." 

Mr. Holman, of Indiana, who was called the great ob- 
jector, and was noted for his persistency, received, at Mr. 
Stevens' hand, the followino- : " The g-entleman is unlike 
Solomon. Solomon says there is a time for all things. 
The gentleman from Indiana thinks (dl time is for his 
tldng.''' 

Mr. Brooks, of New York, in a long speech alluded 
to Mr. Stevens as a master of billingsgate, saying there 
are several kinds of gates. Billingsgate, Newgate and 
Cripplegate. Mr. Stevens replied to his argument and 
just at the close said he knew something of Billingsgate, 
his profession had made him familiar with Newgate, and 
the Almighty, in his mysterious Providence, had caused 
him to be acquainted mth Cripplegate, but there was 
another gate to which the gentleman had not alluded, 
which he intended to avoid, but which he thought the 
gentleman from New Y^ork was fast apjiroaching — Hell- 
Go.te. 

A member from the south, of adverse political views 
to ^Ir. Stevens, and who had no personal acquaintance 
vsith him, was greatly exercised with the idea that 
Stevens would thwart some measure or project he had 
on liand and spoke to ex-Govenior Wickliffe, of Ken- 
tucky, as to how his ox^position could be obviated. " Go 
to him frankly, and ask it as a favor," said Wicklifi'e. The 
advice was followed and Stevens cheerfully assented. He 
was a big, generous-hearted man — nothing small about 
him. He could grant a favor to a foe wlio asked for it. 

Mr. Stevens was never mamed. AVhether he ever had 



16 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

any youthful love affair I have not learned. Wliil-st he 
was in the legislature he paid attention to Miss Sergeant, 
a daughter of the great lawyer, John Sergeant, who was 
pleased with the idea of the marriage, and the lady was 
not averse, but Miss Sergeant, once, in a jeweler's store, 
playfully suggested to Stevens to buy her a diamond 
ring which she admired. His ideas of propriety were 
shocked, or perhaps he thought that the young lady was 
mercenary or ambitious rather than loving, and he took 
offense at this and ceased his attentions. 

For many years Mrs. Smith, a colored woman nearh' 
white, was his housekeeper. She was the mfe of a 
barber. He first became intimate with her at Harrisburg. 
In after years she nui'sed him with great kindness, and 
by her will set ai:>art five hundred dollars, the annual in- 
come from which is to be expended in keeping Mr. 
Stevens' grave in order. The whole Democratic press of 
Pennsylvania were in the habit of assailing Mr. Stevens 
on account of his association with this woman, and 
charged that it was illicit. Mr. Joseph Bailey, of 
Perry county, who was elected to congress fi-om the 
strong Democratic district of York, Cumberland and 
Perry, when he got within the circuit of his magnet- 
ism, was a great admirer of Mr. Stevens, and his firm 
ally, and soon became an ardent Republican. He 
associated intimately with Mr. Stevens at Washington 
and knew his housekeeper well. He assured me he re- 
garded her as a respectable and ^drtuous woman, for 
whom he entertained the highest esteem, and stated 
that on one occasion when lie was traveling from Balti- 
more to Washington in a crowded car he gave her his 
seat at the expense of having himself to stand. Certainly, 



Thaddeiis Stevens. 17 

whatever may have been the state of affairs at tiie iiicep 
tion of the relationship it existed for years at Washing- 
ton in such form as to have no discredit connected with 
it in the minds of Mr. Stevens' acquaintances and friends 
and of the general public. 

It was also charged upon Mr. Stevens by his political 
opponents that he was an infidel. In January, 1867, his 
name was mentioned in connection with the United 
States senatorship in the canvass which General Simon 
Cameron and ex-Governor Curtin were making for that 
position. An ardent admirer of Mr. Stevens wrote hini 
the letter and received the rex:)ly following : 

" House of Kepresentatives, 
" Harrisburg, Pa., January ^J, IS 67. 
" To the Honorable Thaddeus Stevens : 

" Dear Sir : During the late senatorial contest in this 
city I heard the following charges made against you : that 
you are an infidel : that you said the Bible was the pro- 
duction of a barbarous age, and that you do not believe 
in the existence of a God nor of a hell. I could not 
reply, not knowing anything about the facts, but immedi- 
ately went to Representative Armstrong, of your county, 
and told him what I had heard, and asked him whether 
such was the case. He could only say that the charges 
were new to him and that he did not believe them. My 
curiosity was excited and I Avrite you for personal mfor 
mation. The committal of the matter to me shall not 
tarnish your lair fame. 

" Respectfully yours, 

John T. Kea(jy " 



18 lierHuiiiicenL-e.s and Sketches. 

" AVashington City, January 1^3, 1867. 

" Deaii SiJi : 1 received your letter. I am not surprised 
nor much moved at any scandals which may be publicly 
or privately uttered al:)Out myself. I do not usually con- 
tradict them. To 3H:)ur personal sugtzestion, however, I 
willing-ly reply. 

" All the statements which you said were made are false, 
as the author well knew if lie had any knowdedg-e on the 
subject. 

" I hav(^ always been a tirm believer in the Bible. He is 
a fool who disbelieves the existence of a God as you 
say is cliarg-ed on me. I also believe in the existence of a 
hell for the especial benefit of this slanderer. I have 
said that I never den}^ any charges however g-ross. I 
make an exception when my religious belief is brought 
in question. I iwwke no pretension to piety (the moi-e 
[)ity), but I would not be thought to be an infidel. I was 
raised a Baptist and adhere to their belief. 

" Thaddei s Stevens.'" 

That Mr. Stevens had read the BiV)le carefully is shown 
very clearly by his public utterances. His speeches are 
full of Bible references and allusions. He contributed 
liberally to benevolent objects connected with the 
churches of all denominations. The agent for the Pres- 
byterian board of foreign missions received a larger con- 
tribution from Mr. Stevens than from Mr. Buchanan, al- 
though Mr. Buchanan was a mem])(^r of that (church. 

AAHiilst he was a resident of Gettysburg the Pennsyl- 
vania Bible Society was exploring the state and supply- 
ing destitute families witli Bibles. Mr. Stevens agreed to 
take ('harge of one toAvnsliip of Adams conntv. He fur- 



Thaddeus Stevens. 19 



nislied a horse and i^aid a student one dollar a day and 
his expenses, and had the townshiji immediately west of 
the colleg-e canvassed and supplied. 

There is a fine touch of pathos in his letter to Mr. 
Keag-y (juoted above. " I make no ])retension to piety 
(the more pity), but T would not be thought to be an in- 
tidel. I was raised a, Baptist and adhere t(j tli(dr belief." 
The old man of threescore years and ten and five super- 
added, was (h'awino- close to the final step which every 
human being- must make, and make alone, into the be- 
yond — a step in utter darkness and uncertainty, ex- 
cept ior the lig"lit of Revelation. He had never con- 
nected himself with any church org-anization and seldom 
attended church services. He knew his end was near and 
that he must soon face the inevitable, dread and solemn 
to every man, no matter how great his intellect or how 
strong- his self-reliance. He i-emembered the relig-ion of 
his mother with whom, as a youth, he had g-one to church, 
and beside whose knee, as a little boy, he had learned his 
simple childhood pray(^r. He had nothing- else to rely 
ui)on except her faith and her prayer, and states, "T was 
raised a Baptist and adhere to their belief." There was 
no hypocrisy in the man, and no attempt at concealment 
oi- self-deception. Keg-ret there doubtless was that he 
had not lived a different life. The memory that he had 
not livinl a life of pit^ty, "the more i)ity," crowded upon 
him. But he was not an infidel nor a disbeliever in the 
Bible. He believed in God, the Bible and his mother, 
and adhered to the faith of his mother. 

The following- letter from Mr. McPherson, in reply 
to an inquiry as to Mr. Stevens' attendance on c;hurch 
services, is interesting-, and in view of tlic misre|n'esenta- 



20 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



tioii Mild abuse of Mr. Stevens in liis lifetime is import- 
ant testimony as to liis r<'li.i^ions views and charitable life: 

"Gettysbuko, Pa., •/annari/ ,?~), 1SS7. 

"DeakSik: Mr. Stevens, during- ;dl his residence in 
Gettysburg-, up to 1842, always held a pew in at least one 
church, frequently in two ; and he attended service both 
in town and country. At one time we had the Rev. Dr. 
Paxton at the Marsh Creek church, and the Rev. Dr. 
Watson in town, and the colleg-e and seminary professors ; 
ill addition part of the time the Rev. C. G. McLean, a 
'Duncanite' or Seceder, now United Presbyterian, who 
was a man of eccentricity and power. Mr. Stevens and 
the latter had a fierce controversy in the newspapers on 
the temperance question, Mr. S. l^eing- for total absti- 
nence, McLean ag-ainst it. 

" Mr. Stevens was rather fond of theological disputation, 
and there are g-entlemen yet living- in Gettysburg- who 
remember his controversial conversations with the Rev. 
Dr. Baug-lier and other Lutherans. Mr. S. held the Cal- 
vinistic view as disting-uished from the Armenian, and he 
was well read. He preferred the Baptist org-anization, 
and in his will g-ave $1,000 to a struggling- Baptist church 
in Lancaster, conditioned on their raising- a like amount 
within eight years, which they did. Out of this has 
grown a prosperous church there. His mother, you 
know, was a devout and very active Baptist. 

"In Lancaster he had a pew in the Presbyterian church, 
but he rarely attended service. As he grew older and 
the slavery question became a prominent subject of dis- 
cussion, and the clergy, as a rule, were either 'dough- 
faces' or pro-slavery, he withdrew himself from their 
teachings. He had no res|)ect f< n' pro-slavery Christianity, 



Thaddeus ISlevenH. 21 



and didnt believe it to l)e a form of Christianity, but of 
somethino- else. He was always a liberal contributor in 
Adams to church movements of every variety, as well as 
to all charitable and reformatory institutions. 

"I have been struggling" since 1869 with an impaired 
vitality, resulting- from over-w^ork, and the limitations 
g-rowing- out of this prevent me from doing- all I wish. I 
am hopeful, however, of being- able to tell a story of Mr. 
8. and his life bf^'ore I quit this countr^'. 
" Very respectfully, 

' ' Edw. " McPh ki !son. " 

Mr. Stevens was a decided temperance man. In his 
early life at Gettysbiu'g he kept his liquors as others did 
and drank, thougrh I believe never to excess. But some 
of his intimate associates did, and he saw the folly of it. 
He, therefore, early in the tem]:)erance movement became 
a total abstainer. His stock of liquors on hand he pub- 
licly poured out into the street in front of his office, and 
althoug-h not a noisy temperance advocate, he was from 
that time mitil his death a total abstainer from the use 
of liquors as a beverag-e. He never used tobacco in any 
form. 

From his early manliood long before the orig-in of the 
abolition party he was ag:ainst slavery, because of his 
belief in its injustice and iniquity and he was an avowed 
abolitionist. He stood almost alone in his community. 
His views were exceeding-ly unpopular. There was ap- 
parently every temptation of self-interest that he should 
smother his convictions of rig-lit and g-o with the current. 
The border counties of Pennsylvania were intensely con- 
servative on this question. But from first to last, from 



2'2 lie nn')n\scc lives (UhI K^krlche 



liis avliuissioii to \\\e bar in 181() until liis dcntli, lie was 
au opon, l)rav(^ aiul dotorniinrd ojiponont of slavery, with 
"no variableness nor shadow of tiirnini:/" Like Wesley 
he ri\i^a]'d(Hl it as tlu^ "sum of all villainies/" To have 
takiMi the ])oi)nlar side would have j^iv(>n him inmuHliate 
professional and })olitica] ])refernient. He stood with 
heroic manhood by his eouvietions of duty and fore(nl 
himself forward by his (^ommandini:- intellcH't and his 
marvelous self |)oise and indiviiluality. No tl(Hun^' slave 
ever appliinl to him for assistance in vain, and he was 
ever ready to dt^tend an allei^HMl fui:itiv(> n\ ith his ])]-ofes- 
sional services. 

His philipi)ii's a<aainst slavery in tlie d(4>att^s on the 
eomi)romise nu^asur(^s of 1851, ai-e i^rauil spiH-inuMis of 
pow(*rful ari;'unient and sai'casm, and when his surround- 
iui^-s ar(> considercHl, and tlu^ t(nn])(n' of the times, tliey 
are ma,i:nitic«Mit manih^stations of «'oura,L:(\ He knc^v no 
fear. 

On the 'iOth o{ I'ebruary, 1850, the House, bein.i^- in 
committee oi the whoh" on the state of the union, on 
th(^ reference of the Presid(^nt"s annual mi'ssai;-e, ^Er. 
St(n(vns deliv(M-ed a s])(HH'h against tht^ extiMision of slavery 
into tht^ t(MTitories, in which, in r(^]>lyini^' to ^li'. Meade, 
of Viri^'inia. he said: 

"Th(^ h\-irn(Hl and able i:(>ntlenian from \'ir.i:'inia says 
his stat(^ has a slave ])o])ulation i^{ wvay half a million. 
w]u>S(> valut^ is chit^tly de])endent upon s(mtliern dt^nand. 
Let us ]Knise a moment and look u])on this humiliating:- 
i'ontV^ssion. In jdain Eui^'lish, wliat does it mean.'' That 
Viri^inia is now only tit to be the heceder, not the (Employer, 
of slaves. That she is reductHl to tlu^ condition that hvv 
proud chivalry are compelh^l to turn slave-trailers for a 



liv(;]iliu(>(l, instead oi attempting- to renovate tli(! soil and 
by their own honest labor compelling- th(; earth to yield 
her abundancf! ; inst(!ad of s(;(*kin<^- the best breed of cattle 
and horses to h^ed on hej- hills and valleys and fe-rtilize th(} 
land, the sons of that ^^reat state mnst devote tliriir time 
to selecting- and grooming- the most lusty sires and the 
most fniitful w(niches to suj>j)ly th<! slave banacoons of 
th(! south. xVnd thc^ learned gfiiitleniaii ))atli('ti(^?dly 
laments that th<! prcjfits of this (jciih-cl trnflic will ])e 
greatly lessencid l)y the circumscriptiou of slavery." 
Sj^eaking- of the occasion, Mr. K<;nnedy Mfjorhead says: 
'In 1850, b^ing- a visitor in Washing-ton city, I obtained, 
through the courtesies of a friend, admittance to the floor 
of the House when Mr. Stevens was speaking on the evils 
of slavery. The leading members from the slave-holding 
states were gathered in front of his desk. As he por- 
trayed the degradation and the crim<' of slav(?ry, in such 
a manner as only Ik; could portray them, scowds settled 
upon tli(3ir l)rows, (contempt curled their lips and oaths 
could }>e distinctly heard hissing through their teeth. 
This w^as in the days when southern gentlemcjn caiforced 
their arguments with an appeal to the duel, and southern 
ruffians resorted to the bowdf;-knife and bludgeon. I felt 
alarmed for him, but he proceeded, unembaiTassed by 
interruptions and apparently unconscious of th(3 mutter- 
ings of the storm. As, reacliing liis climax, he spoke of 
Virginia, the proud mother of Presidents, become a 
brcMjder of slaves for the southern markets, th(; anger of 
her representatives could scarcely be re-strained, yet he 
was as cool as if addressing a jury in his county court- 
house." 

On the loth of Jun(!, IH.')!), Mr. Stevens, in again sf)eak- 



24 Jieminiscences and Sketches. 

lug on the same subject, thus noted some of the attacks 
made upon his former speech: "I do not remember that 
any of the numerous gentlemen who have referred to my 
remarks have attempted to deny one of the facts, or to 
refute one of the arg-uments; they have noticed them 
merely to vituperate their author. To such remarks there 
can be no reply by him who is not willing- to place him- 
self on a level with blackguards. I cannot enter that 
arena. I will leave the filth and the slime of billingsgate 
to the fish women and to their worthy coadjutors, the 
gentlemen from Virginia (Mr. Millson), from North Caro- 
lina (Mr. Stanley), from Kentucky (Mr. Stanton) and from 
Tennessee (Mr. Williams) and all that tribe. With them 
I can have no controversy. Wlien I want to combat with 
such opponents and such weapons, I can find them any 
day by entering the fish-market, without defiling this hall. 
I beg these respectohle fish-ladies, however, to understand 
that I do not include my colleague from Bucks county 
(Mr. Eoss) among those I deem fit to be their associates, 
I would not so degrade them. There is in the natural 
world a, little, spotted, contemptible animal, which is 
armed by nature with a fetid, volatile, penetrating virus, 
which so pollutes whoever attacks it as to make him 
offensive to himself and all around him for a long time. 
Indeed, he is almost incapable of purification. Nothing, 
sir, no insult, shall provoke me to crush so filthy a beast. 
Mr. Chairman, I crave your pardon for this unprofitable 
digression. 1 trust I shall never again be betrayed into 
a, similar one, even to brush off these invading vermin." 
The freemasons were accustomed to account for Ste- 
vens' hostility to masonry by the statement that whilst 
in York as a scliool teaclier he desired to join the lodge. 



'riiaddcus St e revs. 25 



but his deformed foot rendered liim illegible, and out of 
(rhag-rin at his rejection he became a violent opponent 
of the order, and one of the orig-inators of anti-masonry 
It seems altog-ether probable that this is a mistake, and 
that Mr. Stevens' opposition to masonry was based on 
his honest judg-ment and not on any narrow g-round of 
mere personal mortification. It is true, however, that Mr. 
Stevens first engag-ed actively in politics with the rise of 
the anti-masoni(; party, in 1828. The kidnapping and 
murder of Morg-an, actual or alleg-ed, in 1826, g-ave rise 
to the ag-itation, and the formation of a party which was 
opposed to all secret societies. Mr. Stevens took uj) the 
cause in his county and quickly became the leader of it. 
He was suiTounded by the most vindictive opponents that 
ever gave force to a political struggle. Every influential 
man in his town and vicinity was a mason, and by indi- 
\ddual exertion, and throug-h the press of Gettysburg- and 
Hag•ersto^vn, a determined effort Avas made to malig-n and 
destroy his reputation. He was charged, publicly and 
privately, with the worst crimes in the criminal calendar. 
A pai^er published in Gettysburg by a Mr. Lefevre was 
the vehicle^ through which these slanders were conveyed 
to the public. A negro woman was found dead and 
Stc^vens was chargcMl with the murder. This brought the 
political warfaj'e to a climax. A criminal prosecution for 
libel and ji (dvil suit for damages wer(3 instituted against 
Lefevre, who was informed that both \\'Ould be discon- 
tiinied if he surrendered the? name of the author. He 
declined to do this. At the trial, Mr. Stevens, by his 
counsel. Judge Watts, waived the ruh^ excluding i\m facts 
from evidence, and oft'ered to hear all that the defendant 
might liMve to justify th<' charge. His counsel declined 



2C) licininisccncesi and Skefchcs. 

the offei'. H(^ was comicted and sentenced to line and 
imprisonmant, but was immediately pardoned by Gover- 
nor AVolf, with which action the public and Mr. Stevens 
himself found little fault, as Lefevre was a w^eak man, and 
but ail instrument in the liands of unscrupulous politi- 
cians. Mr. Btevens recovered against him two thousand 
dollars dama«-es in the civil suit, boug-ht his property in 
at the sheriff's sale and left it with him, and assig-nedthe 
balance of the judi^inent remainin.!^ unsatisfied by the 
sale, to his wife. 

He w^as the chairman of a le«-islative committee, in 
1835, to investia"ate and report on freemasonry, and con- 
ducted an extended investieration and made a vigorous 
re])ort ag-ainst the order, which is found in tlic^ ])ublished 
leg-islative proceediiio-s of that year. 

An incident of Mr. Stevens' life illustrative of his <^en- 
erous manhood is the story of James Dobbin. This man 
had at one time been a brilliant lawyer, but when Mr. 
Stevens came to the bar, a^-e and his habits had weakened 
his intellect, and he had become deran^-ed and the sport 
of the boys and thouorhtless men of th(^ villag-c. By the 
will of his father he had come into the ])ossession of a 
fai'm, charo-ed with encumbrances in favor of leg-atees, 
and of a law library made up ])rincipally of black-letter 
books. The last flickerin.i^" rays of reason made the old 
man cling- to the library as th(^ only joy that was left to 
him. Reading- the books in his offi(;e and eloquently dis- 
cussing- their merits on the streets, were the last employ- 
ments of his life. His farm and library were sold at 
sheriff's sale and })ought in by Mr. Stevens, who had 
charg-e of the executions against him upc^n which the 
sales were made, and the old man Ixn-amc a wanderiuir 



Thaddeus Sterens. 27 



outcast. From these cireuinstauces were fabricated tiie 
most infamous falsehoods by malig-nant political a('ser- 
saries ag^ainst Mr. Stevens — cliarg-es that the farm \\i\i\ 
been purchased by misrepresentations as to title, and the 
valuable library bought for a song", and the poor old man 
cast out a beggar uj-)on the streets. These charges were 
made to reach the eye and ear of the public far and near, 
and, ag-ain, the aid of the courts was invoked and they 
were shown to be utterly destitute of foundation, but the 
idea that he was wrong-ed and robbed by Mr. Stevens 
took possession of the old num's mind, and it became the 
business of his lifV^ to proclaim to the world that Mr. 
Stevens had ruined hini. Mr. Stevens quietly and with- 
out his knowledg-e, or tlie knowledge of any one, sought 
out and provided a home for the old man in a comfortable 
room on the outskirts of the town, and made him a 
boarder at his expense with the old lady who occupied 
the house. Old Jimmy, however, in time became un- 
manag-eable and it was necessary that he should be sent 
to the almshouse. To have proposed such a thing- to him 
would have made him a maniac. Mr. Stevens was the 
attorney of the directors of the poor. He resig-ned his 
position and had the old man appointed by the directors 
as attorney, on conditi(m that he should keep his officu^ 
at the almshouse, and had a room fitted uj) with tlie old 
black-letter library, and tlu> poor old man lived and died 
in the i^leasant delusion that he was again n lawyer of 
im]:)ortance. 

In 1838, at the adoption of the amended constitution, 
in a time of the hig-hest and most bitter party excite- 
ment, Governor Ritner r(;appointed John Bannister 
Gibson Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. Stevens was 



28 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

Ritner's chief adviser, and no doubt dictated this ai)point- 
ment. Gibson was a democrat, and Ritiier an anti-mason 
and whig". The appointment was a mag-nan imous risin<^ 
above party feeling-, and was hig-hly honorable to Mr. 
Stevens. It Avas a tribute to the worth and preeminent 
(lualifications of the Chief Justice. It was madt^ by Mi-. 
Stevens when he was the leader of tlit^ whig- ])ai'ty, and 
was the weekly and daily object of vindictiv<' misrepre- 
sentation and abuse by th(M»ntire democrjitic ])ressof the 
state. 

Mr. Stevens' idea of a model republic- was ont^ that 
g-ave education to all its citizens. He held it to l)e the })ri- 
mary duty of the government to provide for the educa- 
tion of every child in orthography, reading-, writing, 
grammar and arithmetic — the rudimental branclu^s of all 
knowledg-e — that a system of general education, basi^d 
upon g-eneral taxation, was necessary to mak<^' the citizens 
of a republic intellig-ent and capabh^ voters, l^ut this 
idea was novel in Pennsylvania and exceeding-ly unpoi)u 
lar in many localities. It was urg-ed ag-ainst it that it 
was unfair that one man should be taxed to educate the 
children of his neig-hbor, and as very unjust that a child- 
less man with ])roperty should be heavilj^ taxed to edu- 
cates the childri^n of his thriftless neig-hbor who ])aid no 
taxes because Iw had no property, and had no |)roperty 
because he had no thrift. His own county was opposed 
to the })roject by a larg-e majority and instructed him, by 
a popular vote, to vote ag-ainst it. His best friends lu-ged 
that the measure was unpopulai- and that his advocac}^ 
of it would ruin his political prospcH'ts. But in this, as 
in other matters, he followed his convictions of duty. He 
threw himself into th<' comlnit on the side of universal 



Tliaddeus Stecen-s. 29 



education, overcjune dirticulties that would liave appalled 
a more timid man, and sustained himself before the 
people of his own county at the next election. 

Wien Mr. Stevens was a youn.^- i)ractitioner at the 
])ar he made a journey on horseba(;k through Maryland 
to Baltimore for the pui'pose of purchasing a law library. 
On the way he slept for the night at a hotel kept by a man 
with whom he was A\ell acquainted. A colored woman 
in tears came to him and implored him to prevent the 
sale of her husband, the slave of the landlord, who was 
about to sell him to be taken south. Mr. Stevens, who 
knew the " boy " and th<' relation that existed between 
him and his master, expostulated with the landlord 
against selling his (jwn flesh and blood, and offered to 
pay him $150, one-half of the expected jDrice, but in vain. 
The landlord replied that he must liav<' money and that 
John was cheaj) at $300. Mr. Stevens purchased and 
manumitted John, and retraced his steps to Gettysburg 
vvdthout going to Baltimore, and postponed the purchase 
of his law library. 

The following letter is hoin the- p(ni of Judge Watts 
wlio was intimately associated Avitli Mr. Stevens in the 
l)ractice of the law for man}^ years, and who was preemi- 
nently well qualified to judge and speak of his character- 
istics : 

"Carlisle, P.v., Jauuart/ /6', /M(;s. 

" Deak Sill: It will afibrd me pleasure to aid you to 
l)ortray the life of tht^ man whose character was im- 
pressed upon my memory by a long professional inter- 
course. I practiced in the courts of Adams county, wIku'c 
Mr. Stevens resided, from about 1830 to 1842, and dm'ing 
that period was his opposing counsel in almost cn^ery 



30 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



important cas(» tried. I had, therefore, an opportunity 
to know him well. At jin early period of my knowledg-e 
of Mr. Stevens he had taken up the erusade jigainst 
masonry and was surrounded by the most vindictive 
opponents who charged him publicly and privately with 
the worst crimes on the criminal calendar, not excepting- 
murder, and when I first met him at the bar my own im- 
})ression had been poisoned by the thousand stories which 
I had heard of his cunning", his artifice, his deceit, as well 
as his crime. I soon, however, unlearned all this, for it 
was easy to trace to its source the origin of all these 
calumnies. I can sa}', without the fear of contradiction, 
that a more candid, truthful, fair opponent at the bar 
never lived in our state. As a practitioner he was as hon- 
orable as he w^as i^owerful. No appeal was made to him 
in vain to continue a trial on the ground of accidental 
want of preparation, h(^ would either admit the facts or 
ccmtinue the case till his opponent was ready. 

"One of the most characteristic features in the life of 
Mr. 8. was the mysterious infiuence he had upon the con- 
duct of those who surromided him, whether friends or 
foes. This may be illustrated by the fact that during the 
p(?riod when he canied on perseveringly his warfare 
against masomy, all his personal companions and all the 
influential men of his time were masons, Thomas C. 
Miller, Clarkson, McPherson, the McClellands, and many 
others who might be mentioned: and whilst his exten- 
sive knowledge of the secrets of masonry enabled him 
to expose them disparagingly in his public speeches, his 
cynical asperity in his personal intercourse never lost an 
opportunity to excite laughter at the expense of the 
practices of th(^ institution, and although this was har- 



Thaddeus iSfcrrns. 31 



rowing- to the feelings of his surrounding- hearers, yet 
there was not one of them with whom lie dealt so harshly 
wlio would not seek an ()pi)()rtunit\' to render liim per- 
scmal service. 

" As a i^ractitioner of law Mr. Stevens was a model. 
Brevity characterized everythino- he did and everythino- 
lie said. Tliere was no waste of words with him — no 
labor thrown away. He had a mind which instantly and 
clearly comx^rehended the subject ])resented: a strenirth 
of judg-ment which quickly dictated a sound solution : 
language which was elo(iuent and curt in ex])ression, and 
a manner which impressed the force of his c(m^dctions. 

''Mr. Stevens' life was full of incidents, and many of 
them characteristic of the man, and especially his gen- 
erosity and unselfishness. 

"It will give me ])leasure to serve you if lean, because 
it will be an effort to preserve the character of one whom 
I much esteemed. 1 was as much his confidential friend 
as he suffered any one to be. 

"Truly you]-s, 

Fued'k Watts." 

Although he lived to a good old age, his mental 
vigor survived till the very last. He grew so wc^ak, phys- 
ically, that h(^ had to be carried by the strong- arms of 
youthful men to his s(^at in the House of Bepresentatives. 
But the (bivel of dotage never overcame him. His mem- 
ory remained firm and his mind hc^ld its gi'ip. Calm, 
self-poised, far-sighted, industrious, honest, frank, gren- 
erous, brave and witty he remained, to the last, the 
born leader of men, tln^ active friend of humanity, and 
the determined foe of oppn^ssion, wheth<»r of an individ- 
ual or a race. 



32 Rrndnisai'Rce^s and Shrtclits. 



He spent tlie summer and fall of 186G at the Bedford 
Spring's, and during- the month of August delivered a 
speech to a larg-e meeting- of republicans, in the evening-, 
on the public square in Bedford. Parts of it he read bj^ 
lamp lig-lit without glasses. His speech was teleg-raphed 
in extenso to the New York TrihiLue. It was probably for 
this purpose that he Avrote it out. It was a very unusual 
thing- for Mr. Stevens to deliver a speech from manu- 
script. In the trial of cases at the bar he kept no notes 
of evidence. His tenacious and capacious memory made 
it unnecessary. His speeches in cong-ress were not re- 
duced by him to writing. I remember that in 1845 he 
delivered an address before the Diag-nothian Literary 
Society of Marshall College at Mercersburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, and when written to for the manuscript for publi- 
cation replied that he had none — that he never wrote out 
an address. 

A little incident that happened at the Bedford Spring's 
in the fall of 1867 illustrates the self-contained and self- 
reliant character of the g-rand old man. The g-uests of 
the house had all departed and Mr. Stevens remained 
almost alone. There were none to talk to and none with 
whom to play euchre or whist. Whilst walking one 
afternoon I observed six or (dght small boys (the little 
peddlers of flowers and maple-sugar who frequent that 
resort) running- races around the circle about the fountain, 
and some old gentleman who sat on the brick porch near 
a column, to whom at the end of each race they ran up 
for the reward of the winner. Ag'ain and ag-ain they ran, 
first being: spaced off so as to equalize as nearly as jdos- 
sible their relative abilities. Mr. Stevens was amusing- 
himself. He gave the winn<u- a quarter of a dollar. The 



Thaddeus Stevens. 



whole crowd ran three times around the circle each race. 
His object was to so space the boys that in the outcome 
each one of the six or eight would win a quarter. A 
merrier or mor(^ joyous crowd was seldom seen. The 
quarter was an immense stimulus to exertion, and the old 
man, besides enjoying the glee of the boys, also had the 
pleasure of seeing earnest racing, and gave employment 
to his mind by judiciously spacing the boys in the exer- 
cise of a judgment predicated upon his obsei*^"ation of 
their relative merits as racers. 

During Mr. Stevens' life men differed greatly as to his 
merits. Few, perhaps none, who knew him doubted the 
greatness of the man, but his political opponents feared, 
hated and reviled him, and endeavered to cover him with 
misrepresentations and obloquy. Judge Woodward, of 
Pennsylvania, who was one of seventeen members of 
congress who delivered memorial addresses in the House 
of Representatives at Washington soon after his decease, 
whilst bearing testimony to his great qualities, as all did, 
says: "Differing from him in toto coelo in politics and 
religion, I cannot think that the final influence of his 
great talents upon the public mind will be salutory, nor 
that posterity, to whom the arbitrament belongs, will 
rank him as a benefactor of his race." But he was too 
much enveloped in contemporaneous partisan atmosphere 
to be able to judge fairly. Lapse of time is needed to 
give a proper perspective to a great man's character. 
You must stand at a distance to be able to observe how 
a tall forest tre(^ towers above its fellows. Mr. Stevens, 
more than any other contemporary Pennsylvanian, has left 
his impress on the age. His "works do follow him." 

With him, as with Lincoln, all men are becoming able to 
3 



34 Bemhiiscences and Sketches. 



see that the world is better for his having- lived in it, aud 

that his name is written, with Abou Ben Adams', " as one 

who loved his fellow-men." 

He loved truth for its own sake, and was honest, direct 

and candid. He was generous to the poor and distressed. 

He labored for the advancement of humanity by making 

education universal and giving freedom to the slave. He 

had the courage of his convictions and never feared public 

opinion ; he made and led it. He was frank with friend 

and foe. He was not avaricious. Even in old age he was 

as free with money as nature is with air and sunlight. 

He was temperate. He made no concealments and used 

no subterfuge. He was not a hypocrite or self-deceiver in 

matters of religion. His power of intellect was too great, 

his range of vision too wide, to allow anything of that 

kind. A bold thinker and a bold actor, unswayed by 

popular favor or prejudice, he held the even tenor of his 

way, standing by the right as he saw it. If his moral life 

was ever tarnished by the indulgence of human appetite 

or passion, who is there without defect in one direction 

or another? His enemies called him a libertine and 

gambler. He was neither the one nor the other, in any 

fair sense of the terms. That he failed to throw the great 

weight of his high intellectual endowments on the side 

of personal piety is to some extent true, "the more pity," 

as he said himself in the retrospect of his life called out 

by Mr. Keagys letter. But, take him for all in all, 

"His life was noble, and the elements 

So mixed in him, that nature might stand up 

And say to all the world, 'This was a man.' " 

It will be manj^ a day before Pennsylvania, or any other 
state for the matter of that, produces a man possessed 
of more real manhood than Thaddeus Stevens. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 



IS rr A CODE OF ETHICS FOR THE GOVERNMENT 
OF OUR CONDUCT IN THIS LIFE? 



T~^ TIRING the progress of the celebrated trial of Henry 
-^^^ Ward Beecher, after having read the nc^wspaper re- 
ports of each day's proceedings, I visited Brooklyn, and 
by the courtesy of the judge who presided at tlie trial, 
occupied for a day a seat on the bcmch, with a fine oppor- 
tunity of observing the countenances and conduct of the 
actors in the drama. The Sunday following I attended Mr. 
Beecher's church and heard him preach and pray. The 
whole impression made on the mind was favorabhi to the 
man. Whilst there were some things in the evidence that 
were hard to reconcile with the hypothesis of innocence, 
there were more that were antagonistic to a belief in his 
guilt ; and, besides, if Mr. Beecher was guilty of the crime 
with which he was charged he was also guilty of the yet 
more heinous crime of deliberate perjury and of hypoc- 
risy that would make him a monster and a marvel of in- 
iquity. That a man should preach a sermon so earnest, 

(35) 



36 BeminiscoicC'S and Sketclics. 



so profound, so full of a realizing- sense of the mortality 
of the body and the innnortality of the soul, and of the 
worthlessness of the things of this life compared with 
the glorious beyond, and should read the Scriptures so 
feeling!}' and pray so devoutly, and be at the same time 
a perjurer and hypocrite, seemed impossible. Respect 
for our common humanity forbade the belief that a man 
so manifestly g-reat in intellect and information should be 
so great an imposter and ^dllain. 

Yet there was an incident of the trial that bore the ap- 
pearance of wonderful self-control and artfulness on Mr. 
B.'s part, which, in my mind, weighed heavily against him. 

Judge Moms had opened against Mr. B. with a two 
days' speech, in which he not only arrayed ^\dtli great 
power all the circumstances that were expected to make 
out the case, but in addition had done what no lawyer 
mindful of the requirements of professional ethics should 
ever do, he had pledged his own personal belief in Mr. 
Beecher's guilt, and thus sought to throw the weight of 
his o^vn character as a man of standing and a lawyer of 
prominence into the jury-box to induce a verdict in his 
client's favor. 

A day or two after this opening speech Mr. Beecher, at 
the adjournment of court, advanced toward Judge Morris 
and introducing himself extended his hand in friendly 
salutation. As I read of this occurrence my mind was 
filled with the wondering incpiiry : What did he do this 
for ^ AVhat motive had he? It seemed to me that the 
impulse of an innocent man would have been to pass the 
"hired master of tongue-fence" by with a jn-ofound feel- 
ing of animosity and contempt. By a great effort, if in- 
troduced by some malapert friend, one might have re- 



The Sermon on the Mount. 37 



ceived him coldly, but as to seeking' an interview and ex- 
tending a friendly hand and eng-ag-ing- in social inter- 
course, I would as soon have thoug^ht of fondling- a snake. 

As I returned home I stopped at Harrisburg", and, as I 
was wont to do, called on one of the best men I have ever 
kno^Ti, who has since gone to his reward ; a man to whose 
eminently l)enevolent and Christian character every man, 
woman and child in Harrisburg of every phase of reli- 
g"ious faith and of every shade of political jiarty will bear 
willingr testimony, Mr. James W. AVeir. We talked, as 
everybody then did, of the trial and of Mr. Beecher's in- 
nocence or g-uilt. Ml'. Weir was very decided in his con- 
viction of his innocence. I mentioned to him the unfa- 
\ orabl(3 impression made on me by his conduct in intro- 
ducing- himself to Judg-e Morris. "Sir," said he, "you do 
Mr. Beecher a wi-ong. You have read, doubtless, the 
Sermon on the Mount, and you remember its wonderful 
code of ethics, that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall 
smite the(3 on the rig-ht cheek tvirn to him the other also, 
and if any man sue thee at the law and take away thy 
coat let him have thy cloak also, and whosoever shall 
compel thee to g-o a mile, g-o with him twain. Love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do g-ood to them that 
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you 
and persecute you. I have no doubt that Mr. Beecher 
did that which you object to under the influence of the 
highest Christian motive, that he soug-ht the first occa- 
sion to show to Judg-e Morris that he entertained no feel- 
ing's of animosity ; that, like a great man, as he is, he 
made the; (occasion and a(;ted from a profound sense of 
duty." 

This was like a new revelation. I had read and ad- 



38 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

mirexl the Sermon on the Mount an hundred times. It 
is to me one of the most convincing- proofs of the divin- 
ity of the Saviour. That a Jewish peasant, thirty years 
of age, the companion and associate of peasants in the 
commonest walks of Jewish life, should arrive at such a 
code of ethics by the unaided exercise of mere hunuin 
reason and experience does not seem possible. But that 
men are to make this code the literal rule by which to 
g-ovem their every -day life in this world I had not thoug-ht 
of. It had rather seemed something- that was intended 
for the millenium, t)r for some future state of existence. 

And so I expressed myself to Mr. Weir. Wliere would 
be the room for just indig-nation at and resentment of 
improper conduct ; for contemi:)t of meanness, and selfish- 
ness, and falsehood, and chicanery, and hypocrisy, and all 
the other \dle characteristics of base human nature? 

The answer was, you may and should despise all these 
characteristics, but you have no rig-ht to hate the posses- 
sor of them. On your own account you are to forg-ive all 
such manifestations towards yourself and entertain no 
feeling- of resentment ; always and everywhere and towards 
all men, you are literally, when smitten on one cheek, to 
turn the other : literally to love your enemies, to bless them 
that curse you, and do g-ood to them that hate you. 

But, I said, Mr. Weir did you ever know a man who 
made this the literal rule of his life, or who ever earnestly 
tried to live by it f Yes, he said, I myself have for thirty 
years; and I am persuaded by a long experience that a 
man will live a happier life and die a happier death who 
schools liims(4f by a determined effort to make this the 
literal rule of his conduct here among his fellow-men. 
Never entertain a resentment for m wrong- : always and 



The Sernion on the Mount. 39 



everywhere do actual and positive good for evil rendered 
to you; seek the occasion and do it fearlessly and un- 
flinching-ly with all men, no matter how wicked or aban- 
doned, or how great the wrong. You may rely upon it, 
as Jesus was and is Divine, it is a practical code for daily 
life here in this world, and is to be literally followed. 

Not many weeks after this conversation I was casually 
present at a Sunday school in West Philadelphia. A 
class of fine-looking, intelligent boys of fifteen or sixteen 
years of age was without its usual teacher. At the re- 
quest of the superintendent I undertook to teach them. 
But they and I were both unprepared as to the lesson of 
the day, and we read, verse about, the first chapter of the 
Sermon on the Mount. After reading it I requested the 
first boy to read over slowly and carefully the verse, "But 
I say unto you, that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall 
smite thee on thy right check turn to him the other also," 
and asked him what it meant, and whether it was to ])r 
taken literally, and for the government of one's conduct 
here in this life. He was cautious about committing him- 
self, and as the question went around so were they all. To 
give the thing a practical turn I inquired of each what he 
would do if the next day at school, or on the street, some 
boy would in anger smite him on the cheek. Individually 
and collectively the class spoke out that th(^ proper thing 
to do, and what each one of them would do, would be to 
fight the aggressor by all the means which (rod and nature 
had put in his power. 

Well, I said, how about your superintendent, the gen- 
tleman that asked me to teach you. He seems like a very 
good man. Sup])os<' that to-morrow I meet him on the 
street ;md ndvance in a rude way and smit<' him on the 



40 liciniidscences and Sketches. 

cheek ? They answered in c^horus, he would thrash you 
i!i a minute. 

But, I said, there is tlie i)astor of your church, the Rev. 

Mr. , he looks like a mild and rather weakly man, 

suppose that to-morrow I walk into his study and inso- 
lently smite him on the face. You had better not try that 
on, was the reply, he is neither as mild nor as weak as he 
looks : the imminent probability is that you will be club- 
bed out of his study and be bound over to answer at court. 

Well, said I, boys, I think you are honest and sincere, 
and I suspect you are not far wrong- as to what you would 
do, and your superintendent, and your pastor, and yet a 
very g"Ood man lately told me that the Sermon on the 
Mount was meant for our practical guidance in this life, 
and that it is to be taken literally. 

Not long- agfo I heard an educated and intellig-ent 
Chinaman lecture on the civilization of China. He 
claimed for that civilization a favorable comparison Avith 
ours. He conceded, however, that the position occupied 
by women in Christian countries was suiDerior to that of 
females in China, and he extolled and admired g-reatly the 
}ihilosophy of the Sermon on the Mount: that it was 
wonderful for its wisdom, and was, perhaps, superior to 
the ethics of Confucius. "But," he said, "the queer 
thing- about Americans is that with such an admirable 
code of ethics they seem to have only a professed belief 
in it and it does not seem to influence their lives. If our 
system is not so g-ood we at least make a more earnest 
effort to reg-ulate our lives by it." 



THE PACKER'S PATH AND AN OLD 
INDIAN TRADER'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 



jj^ROM the north fork of the Potomac River, south of 
Cumberland, Maryland, Will's Mountain stretches 
with an even top, straight as a ruler, N. 25^ E., a distance 
of about forty miles to where the Juniata skirts the base 
of its terminal point, called Kinton's Ejiob, three miles 
west of Bedford, Pennsylvania. The upheaving- power 
which raised the white sandstone that constitutes the 
well-defined backbone of the mountain seems to have 
here spent its force, and the mountain disappears, sub- 
merg-ed beneath the rolling farm country that lies north- 
west of Bedford. 

The mountain takes its name from an Indian chief of 
the Shawneese tribe, whom the earliest white settlers 
called Will. Tradition says he was a man of gi-eat 
stature, and of advanced ag-e when the first white man 
came into the reg-ion. Wlien his tribe was driven west- 
ward by the advancing tide of civilization, he remained 
behind, under the care of a few of liis relatives, to die and 
be buried on the summit of the mountain that bears his 
name, at a jjoint overlooking the hunting-grounds of his 

(41) 



42 lieminiscences and Sketches. 



youth. About seventy years ag-o the grave was violated 
by a physician from Baltimore who carried away the 
bones. An old citizen who witnessed the sacrileg-ious act, 
says the chief was buried in a sitting- posture and that 
the thig-h bones were well preserved and of unusual size. 

Over the north end of Kinton's Knob there passes a well- 
worn path. It is used occasionally by travelers on foot 
and on horse-back from Milliken's Cove to Bedford, and 
by persons who go up the knob for the view. On a clear 
October day, this view is very extended. You can see 
into three states, and over parts of several counties. 
Bedford, the county-seat of Bedford county, and the vil- 
lag-es of Schellsburg- and Buena Vista are seen with g-reat 
distinctness close below, and the main Allegrheny Moun- 
tain, with its parallel ridg-es, and the different gaps 
throug-h which the Juniata breaks, are in full view^ within 
a circuit of forty miles. You may travel far, over different 
continents, without finding a view more productive of 
delight. 

This path has a history. One wonders at the existence 
of a way so well worn, with the tread of many an ancient 
hoof, over a rug-g"ed mountain where the travel is now so 
infrequent, and where a comparatively level and smooth 
route can be found around the base of the knob. For its 
orig-in we must look quite far back into the times of the 
early settlement of the country. 

Railroad traveling- is wonderfully convenient. If we 
had to resume the methods of locomotion of our imme- 
diate fathers, we would feel that they were intolerably 
irksome. And yet the ancient methods had some attract- 
ive features which the modern do not possess. Not long- 
ago I met in a railroad car a distinguished lawyer, formerly 



The Packers Path. 43 

chief justice of Pennsylvania. Wlien we o-ot out at the 
Market Street depot, in Philadelphia, I was about to take 
a street car. No, said he, let us take the Girard House 
coach, with its swing-ing-, leathern spring's. I like it. It 
reminds me of the time when I was i3 resident judg-e of 
your judicial district, and of the wonderfully pleasant 
stag-e-coach rides over the beautiful mountains, with their 
chang-ing- views, of the pleasant personal acquaintances 
one made in the compelled intimacy of a stage ride, and 
of the delig-htful old country inns where we stopped to 
eat. 

AVlien the McAdamized road, known in common iDar- 
lance as the turnpike, was first made, in 1817, and Troy 
coaches and relays of horses were introduced and a speed 
of eig-ht miles an hour was attained and the travel con- 
tinued all night, our fathers thought it the ne plus ultra 
of traveling". Before that time they had what was known 
as the mudpike, ,with a two-horse stage, which made about 
tliirty or forty miles a day and stopped at nig-ht ; and a 
journey from Pittsburg-h to Philadelphia occupied eight 
or ten days. 

But the road of which I speak antedates all these. It 
is a remaining- section of the old "Packer's Path." 

The avaunt couriers of the line of advancing settle- 
ments more than a century ag-o were men who subsisted 
for the most part by hunting*. They depended for salt, 
iron, steel, lead, powder and whisky upon the older set- 
tlements. Winchester, Ya., Hag-erstown, Md., and Car- 
lisle and Chambersburg", Penna., were thriiing- \illag-es, 
carrying- on considerable trade with the frontier, receiv- 
ing- peltry in retui-n for the g-oods and wares sent out. 
As the border extended, Fort Bedford and Fort Cumber- 



44 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

land became advanced trading- forts. There was no 
money. Peltry and furs were the onl}^ resources of the 
early settlers for making- payments for the pm-chases of 
their very few necessaries. 

In the pleasant weather of the fall, a train of pack- 
horses went out from each little neighborhood. The 
pack-saddle was a cumbrous carved tree of wood, made 
with a high pommel and cantel. Each horse wore a little 
bell, and the bridle of each was tied to the tail of its pre- 
decessor. 

The bag's pro\dded for the return of the salt and wares 
were filled with corn to feed the horses, some of which 
was left here and there, at suitable stag-es, for feed on the 
return trij). At nig-ht the horses were hobbled with 
hickory withes and turned out to browse on the under- 
brush and pick the scanty grasses that the forests af- 
forded. 

The object in taking the path over the high ground of 
Kinton's Knob was probably two-fold. Mainly, doubtless, 
it was because the little canoe-shaped valley of Milliken's 
Cove was good grazing land and its rim of mountains 
operated as a sort of enclosure to keep the horses from 
wandering far. A second object, probably, may have 
been the extensive view, exhibiting to the vision of the 
traveler the rising smoke from any camp of hostile 
savages; for these early journeyings were full of peril in 
times when the savages were on the war-j^ath making 
incursions upon the borders. 

The Packer's Path from Frederick, HagerstoT\^i and 
Winchester^ ascended the Tuscarora or Cove Mountain 
by the gaj) west of Mercersburg. In a log cabin just 
within the gap, and about three miles from Mercersbm-g, 



The Packers Path. 45 

the father of James Buchanan kept a small store and 
tavern, and it was there that the future President was 
born. The ruins of a stone chimney mark the spot, and 
the path, which is much steeper and shorter than the 
wag-on road, is still trodden by footmen as a near cut. 

I have before me an account-book, of the date of 14th 
November, 1737, showing- "Partnership g-oods of Thomas 
Kinton and David Priest, divided between Thomas Ejnton 
and John Walker, in Alaganie, as equal as could be ; the 
said John Walker acts and does for David Priest, and 
receives David Priest's part of the goods for said David's 
use, viz: 2 strouds, 2 Cresco shirts, 4 handkerchiefs, 13 
pounds of powder, Qi^ pounds weight of lead, 1 blanket, 
3 lucking g-lasses, 5 dozen of rings, 3| bunches of beads, 
15 knives, big and little, 3 dozen of needles, 4 fadems of 
green bed leas, 3 yards of flowered ribining, 4 fadems of 
blue bed leas, 3 yards of green ribining, 4^ yards of yellow 
ribining, 85 yards of narrow ribining-, a remnant of brass 
^^dre, 34 beaver skins, 5 wolf skins, 6 cat skins, 21 fox 
skins, 6 otter skins, 15 fisher skins, 3 martins, 45 raccoons, 
and 9 parchment skins." 

These men Avere Indian traders. The place called 
"Alaganie " is not Allegheny City, but an ancient trading- 
post on the Allegheny River, at or near where Kittaning 
now stands. The Packer's Path or trail to reach this 
place crossed the Allegheny Mountain near Altoona, at 
the point where the celebrated horse- shoe curve on the 
Pennsylvania railroad is located, that part of the moun- 
tain having- long been known as Kittanning Point, 

This book shows that th(^ Indians were sold g-oods on 
credit, to be paid for in peltries. The standard of value 
seems to have been buck and doe skins. 



46 Bemmiscences and Sketches. 



Tlie account runs: 
"Trusted by John Walker. 

To Perkines' wife, one Doe skin. 

" His daughter, Caughcaline, .... l " 



Luthemah, 



To Kiscomanetoe, 5 Buck skins. 

" Beat-to-Pieces, 5 " " 

" His wife, 1 

" Wapietomah, 2 " " 

" Little-White-Man, 3| " 

" Toitel-Back, 1 

" Manawallico, | " " 

"Trusted out by Thomas Kinton, at Winan«:o. 

To the Pirate, 8 Buck skins. 

" Kakias, 2 " " 

" Pamanie, 2 

" Injen Jim, 1 Doe skin. 

" Herican Tom, 4 Buck skins. 

" Dolof^-as, 1 " " 

" TheGuse, 4 

" Tomulack, 2^ " 

" Tlie Beaver, 1 Doe skin. 

" Alamacopa, 1 " " 

One of these Indians, KiscomaneUe, seems to have been 
named from, or have f^^iven his name to, the river Kiski- 
minitis, a confluent of tlie Alleg-heny, somewhat noted of 
late daj^s as the proposed object of cong-ressional bounty 
under the especial patronage of Cong-ressman Wliite. 

The Indian trader, Thomas Kinton, afterwards settled 
near Bedford and gave name to the knob of Will's Mount- 
ain over which the Packer's Path crosses. 



The Packer'^ Path. 47 

To the credit of the aborigines, it should b(^. chronicled 
that the accounts are crossed out and marked iDaid. 

The packino" business seems in time to have assumed 
considerable proportions, and to have resulted in an 
org-anized company or association for tlie general trans- 
portation of goods, with a large number of horses and 
drivers. 

There is among the papers handed to me by Thomas 
Kin ton's descendants, "A list or roll of pack-horses and 
drivers mustered into his majesty's service, under com- 
mand of Thomas Kinton, horse master, York county, 
October 9th, 1758." 

"A list of pack-horses lost at the battle with Major 
Grant, September 14, 1758." 

"A list of pack-horses and drivers entered into his 
majesty's service under command of Thomas Kinton, 
horse master, Carlisle, 1764." 

The expedition in 1758 was und(^r command of General 
John Forbes. That of 1 764, under Colonel Henry Bouquet. 
Both these expeditions marched through Fort Bedford to 
Fort Pitt. 

Times have vastly changed. The Alh^gheny Mountain 
is no longer the western frontier. On and on the frontier 
has receded, until there is no long-er a frontier left. The 
continent is traversed from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 
less time than the packers took to travel the wilderness 
from Winchester to "Alaganie." Yet such is the adapt- 
ability of human natiu^e to its siuTOundings, and the 
capacity for pleasure bestowed by a beneficent Creator 
upon his creatures, that the enjoyment of life may have 
been, and doubtless was, as earnest and hc^arty and full 
of incident and zest to the hunters and packers and early 



48 lie mini scences ojid Sketches. 



settlers of 1737, as it is to their descendants of this gener- 
ation. We would be loath to undertake their mode of 
life. Without our railroads and telegraphs and daily 
newspapers we would scarcely think it worth while to 
live. It is possil^le that if they were suddenly re-intro- 
duced upon the scene of life, they would be as uncom- 
fortable with, as we would be without these appliances. 
The bears, and panthers, and wolves, and catamounts, and 
beaver, and deer, are gone from their forests. The very 
forests have disappeared. And our life to them would 
be a dull monotony. 

When the Whig convention, which nominated Henry 
Clay for President, sat in Baltimore, in 1844, an ardent 
admirer of the great Kentucky orator and statesman — a 
plain farmer, whose life had theretofore l)een bounded 
by the mountains that surrounded the valley in which he 
was born, impelled by his enthusiasm for "Harry of 
the west," journeyed one hundred and fifty miles to 
Baltimore to be present at the couA-ention. Long bc^fore 
the rest of the delegation returned he came back to his 
country home. His neighbors asked him why he did so. 
Oh, said he, I staid but half a day ; I couldn't stand it in 
Baltimore; it was so lonesome. Deprived of his contact 
with nature, to which from childhood he had been accus- 
tomed, the throng and bustle and excitement of the 
crowded city failed to satisfy his tastes and inclinations. 
He used the true word, eloquently expressive of his feel- 
ings, with a volume of meaning in it. It was intolerable 
lonesomeness. 

The little faded accountbook of 1737 carries us back 
to a different world. The century and a half which have 
rolled away into the past have not only been big with 



The Packer's Path. \\^ 



great events to the race, but have broug-ht an entire 
change in the habits, and customs, and manners, and 
modes of life of the jjeople of this land. It is well to 
recall the past. It excites our pride and admiration for 
the sturdy pioneers of the last century, who, with won- 
derful courage and self-reliance, and skill in adapting 
themselves to their surroundings, pushed out into a 
trackless wilderness filled with wild beasts and savag-e 
Indians, and reared themselves homes where they could 
enjoy the glorious privilege of being- independent. 
Wliatever other changes come to us, we may well emulate 
their self-reliant manhood and love of freedom, and leani 
the lesson that the true happiness of life comes greatly 
from the man's inner consciousness and not alone from 
luxiu-ious surroundings. 



AN ANCIENT MEETING-HOUSE AND 
A COUNTRY GRAVE-YARD. 



'"pHREE-QUARTERS of a mile west of the small vil- 
lag-e of Schellsburg" where the south end of the 
Chestnut Ridg-e slopes gently dow^i to meet the low-lying 
lands of the Shawneese Cabin Creek, is an ancient church 
edifice, probably the oldest building erected for religious 
worship that is now standing in Bedford county. It was 
built in 1806 by the Lutherans and Reformed settlers for 
many miles around, and the gi-ave-yard (to use the an- 
cient name) surrounding it is the home of the dead of all 
that neighborhood for several generations. And a beau- 
tiful home it is. If the spirits of the dead take any in- 
terest in the last resting place of their mortal remains 
they must be well content wdtli this one. The natural 
surroundings are lovely. The long line of the Allegheny 
Mountain stretches into the ether blue of the dim dis- 
tance, and the undulating farms of cultivated fields and 
bits of forest interspersed with houses and barns, with 
the Dry Ridge and Buffalo and Wills Momi tains for a back- 
ground, give an extended landscape for many miles, upon 
which the eye rests with pleasure as the clouds fly over 

(50) 



Ancient Meeting-House and Country Gvifve-Yard. 51 



and add variety ^dth swift-cliano-ino- patches of sunshine 
and shadow. Talk about Westminster Abbey and the 
crypts of great European cathedrals ! Better far this 
beautiful country home of the dead with its wide-spread 
landscape dressed in living- g-reen in summer, or wrapped 
in the pure white sheet of winter snow. 

The old churcli is no long-er used as a xjlace of public 
worship excei)t on funeral occasions. It has been sup- 
planted by more stately edifices at more convenient local- 
ities. The Reformed and Lutherans no longer worship 
tog"ether. In early days the common use of their mother 
tong-ue, the German lang*uag-e, and the feeling- of friend- 
ship engendered by the fact they were strangers in a 
strange land, drew them near to each other, and they 
sank their denominational differences out of sight, and 
united in building churches in which they worshiped 
conjointly, each holding their respective services on al- 
ternate Sabbaths. But the use of the English language 
and prosperity and increase of numbers changed all 
this. Like electric balls that first attract and then repel, 
they were driven asunder and seem to have less of the 
spirit of affiliation and christian charity toward each 
other than for other denominations. Not so with the 
dead. They occupy the ancient ground in harmony, and 
constitute a tie which still brings the community to- 
gether into one common assemblage as one after another 
passes over to join the great majority. 

It is a queer old church, standing right in the midst of 
the encircling graves, with a wine-glass shaped pulpit, 
just large enough to hold the preacher, who is shut in by 
a little door on which there is a wooden turn-bolt, as if 
there was danger of his escaping — a sort of cage. It is 



52 Beminiscences a) id Sketches. 



perched on a post and access is had to it by eight or ten 
steps, and the pews have hig'h straig-ht backs, and there 
is a pew for strang-ers and dig-nitaries just under the pul- 
pit, where they sat facing- the congreg-ation. And there 
is the funniest little g-allery, supported by x^osts, with a 
floor at an ang-le of forty -five degrees and three tiers of 
high-backed pews, and a steep, narrow stairway to get to 
it, U13 which you go as if you were climbing a ladder, ex- 
cept that you don't have the advantage of catching hold 
of the rounds with your hands. 

They have a stove so as to have fire on cold or rainy 
days, and a Bible and hymn books, and it is soothing to 
the living to bury the dead with services in the ancient 
church in which the forefathers of the hamlet worshiped. 
Old men and women are laid away in their narrow homes 
who, as little boys and girls, worshiped and went to Sunday 
school in the old churchy and played among the graves. 

Originally the building was of logs, rough-cast. With- 
in the last few years, largely through the instrumentality 
of the Rev. Mr. Hunt, to whom gTeat jDraise is due, it has 
been new-roofed and weather-boarded and painted; but 
the interior remains unchanged ; the same quaint pulpit 
and pews and funny little gallery. With an occasional 
coat of paint and a new roof every twenty -five or thirty 
years, or, better still and more enduring, mth a good slate 
roof, it ought to last for centuries. And no doubt the 
descendants of the dead who sleep so peacefully in this 
beautiful country cemetery, wherever they may be scat- 
tered over this broad land, will take pleasure in contribu- 
ting to the proper maintenance of this old church. 

The first graves were scattered promiscuously, with no 
arrangement for walks or family i)lots. But some years 



Ancient Jfeefing-House and Country Grave-Yard. 53 

ag-o the cemetery was incorporated. Peter Scliell was in- 
strumental in doing" this, and he did a g-ood work. A 
hirg'e part of it has been regularly laid out in lots where 
families are buried tog-ether, and walks are neatly kept 
in order by a sexton. They have fourteen acres of g-round, 
and a comfortable dwelling- house occupied by the sexton. 
There have been fifty-eig-ht interments within the last two 
years. Ah me ! how fast the place is filling uj) ! it is far 
more populous tl^an the adjoining- villag-e. As I walked 
there a short time since in the brig-ht sunshine of an Oc- 
tober Sunday, I saw the names of many an old friend. 
When you get to be threescore you can find most of your 
friends in the g-rave-yards. John Sill, and James Burns, 
and A. J. Snively, and William Keyser, and Michael Reed, 
and Andrew Crisman, all lay close around me. How 
memories crowded on me as I recalled the past, and saw 
them all, as they were a few years since, in active business 
and political life. In the presence of eternity how un- 
substantial and unimportant are the things of time. 

Just across the turnpike is a small separate grave-yard. 
It is a pity, and it don't seem right. It looks like carry- 
ing animosity into the next world, as it were. Wlien 
Peter Schell undertook to incorporate the cemetery 
some expense had to be incurred, and it resulted in a 
small charge of six or eight dollars for a lot. Hereto- 
fore the grave-yard had been free. Old Mr. Bowser was 
opposed to the incorporation, and these old men couldn't 
agree. And Mr. Bowser started his own cemetery. I 
know not who was to blame. But it is a pity that the 
angles of the old men met, and that down through the 
ages wall go the inquiry why these two grave-yards? and 



54 Reminiscences and Sketche, 



the response that will indicate how these old men dif- 
fered irreconcilably abont this matter. 

The old church is worth a visit and the drive is a de- 
lightful one. It oug-ht to be added to the enjoyable ex- 
cursions that make Bedford attractive to summer visitors. 
And a sojourn of an hour or two to take dinner or sup- 
per at the old hotel at the west end of Schellsburg will 
not be found unpleasant. The house is noted for its fried 
chicken and waffles (it is queer what an affinity fried 
chicken and waffles have for each other), and the ride 
g'ives an appetite. A return can be made by the way of 
Mann's Choice, adding variet}^ without greatly increasing 
the length of the journey — making the whole drive about 
twenty miles. 

By the way, do you know how Mann's Choice got its 
desig:nation ? Persons passing- in the cars often remark 
on the singularity of the name. They never heard of 
Job Mann, and think tln^ name is spelled with one "n," 
Man's Choice, and so they speculate and sug-g-est what a 
queer name I What did the man choose 'l I wonder why 
he selected this place ? Perhaps his best g-irl lived here ! 
and divers other remarks of similar character. The truth 
is when Job Mann was in congress and Felty AYertz kept 
the tavern at the "Foot of the Ridge," forty years ago, 
Felty g"ot the idea that he would like to have a postoffice 
at his house. The stage ran by the door and it would be 
a convenience to the neighborhood and no increase of 
expense, and so he wrote to Mr. Mann, who went to the 
department at Washington and made kno^^^l his request, 
which, of course, was granted at once. But no name had 
been considered either by INlr. Wertz or Mr. Maim, ex- 
cept the local one of the " Foot of the Bidge," which 



Ancient Meeting-House and Country (h-ave- Yard. 55 

the Postoffice Department would not adopt, because there 
was already a postoffice of that name in the state. Wlien 
asked for another, Mr. Mann hesitated, unwilling- to 
take the responsibility of sug-g-esting, and so the clerk in 
the department called it Mann's Choice, and a thriving 
village has grown \\\) there, which is now incorporated 
into a borough apparently destined to flourish and send 
Mr. Mann's name down to posterity for many genera- 
tions. 



SLAVE-CATCHING IN BEDFORD 
COUNTY. 



TN a late magazine article {JSforfh American Review, Oc- 
tober, 1888), General Sherman expresses an opinion 
that "it is one of the most extraordinary anomalies in 
political history, that the owners of slaves, who constituted 
not one-twentieth of the whole population, should have 
ruled their fellow-citizens with desi:)oti(? severity. They 
controlled the fashions of their neig'hbors, dictated to the 
counties, or parishes and states, and were even arrogant 
to the United States of America in congress assembled/' 
In fact, this was not an extraordinary anomaly, nor 
an anomaly at all. It was the same human nature that 
exliibits itself all through history. It would have been 
a most extraordinary event if they had not done so. The 
slave-holders had wealth, education and organization, and 
constituted an oligarchy, the most powerful, probably, 
that the world has ever seen. They owned nearly all the 
landed property and all the slaves, and established a 
despotism of public opinion against which the i^oorer 
whites were as powerless to combat as children. They 

(56) 



Slavt-Catchin/j in iic.dfofd Coimly. 57 

held and exercised control ;is the nobility did in feudal 
times. The lawyers, and preachers, and doctors, and 
editors, were of the slave-holding- class, either in fact, or by 
birth, or marriage, or interest. Against the aristocracy 
and plutocracy, and org-anization of the dominant class, 
the poor whites had nothing- to interpose but poverty, 
illiteracy and entire lack of org-anization. The brainy, 
ambitious and energ-etic, men of the poor class, when any 
such were developed, ciuickly rose into the better position 
of the upper class, or an intermediate x^o^ition, which 
made them appendant to the upper class. The control 
of the g-overnment, local, state and national, went easily 
and naturally into the liands of the slave-holder. It 
would have been a deviation from the law of human 
nature, as exhibited in all societies and governments of 
which we have any recorded history, if this had not 
been so. 

And this despotism of slavery not only controlled the 
white population of the south who were not slave-holders, 
but dominated the north as well. The great democratic 
party was its earnest ally, briVjed by the control of the 
national government and the patronage of office which 
the slave-holders enabled it to maintain, and the whig 
party was not far behind in suVjsen-iency. There were 
no fiercer pro-slavery men than the lower classes of whites 
of the Vjordf^r states, both north and south of Masons and 
Dixon's line. There was a time, within the memory of 
men now living, when it was opproVjrious to be called an 
abolitionist in southern Pennsylvania. No word of con- 
tempt was fuller of meaning or more odious. Wliigs and 
democrats alike, with scarce an exception, Aned with each 
other in expressions of resxje<-t for the constitutional 



58 Uenuniscences and Sketches. 



sanction of slavery and the fugitive slave law, and in 
profound contempt for any man who advocated the 
abolition of slavery or who spoke ag^ainst the institution 
in any way whatever. It existed, it had constitutional 
recognition and sanction ; slaves were x:>roperty ; and as 
far as the north was concerned we had nothing to do 
with it; no right to an opinion even, nor to discuss it. 
To charge a man with being an abolitionist was about 
on a par, in the minds of most men, with calling him a 
scoundrel or a thief. The advent of an abolition lecturer 
in a south Pennsylvania village fifty years ago, excited the 
people to fever heat. If word had come that a hyena or 
a tiger had escaped from its cage and was loose in the 
community, it could not have created a greater furor. A 
coat of tar and feathers and riding on a rail, at the hands 
of a mob, awaited all such who did not desist and leave 
at once on notice. 

If slaves ran away from Maryland or Virginia and 
came through southern Pennsylvania, hand-bills offering 
a reward were circulated and posted up in public places. 
They were sent to postmasters and put up in the post- 
offices and taverns, often by the postmasters themselves, 
and there were men in Bedford county, as in other border 
counties, who were not only willing, but watchful and 
anxious, to capture runaways and get the reward. Hand- 
bills with regard to runaway slaves were received and 
treated with the same respect as those giving informa- 
tion of a stolen horse, and offering a rcAvard for its capture 
and the arrest of the thief. The fugitives followed the 
mountains which run northwardly, and the slave-catchers 
lay in wait, both by day and night, at the crossing places 
of the roads, and arrests were made witliout any warrant 



Slave-Catching in Bedford County. 59 



or process of law. Neg"roes and mulattoes were captured, 
and bound and conducted back to their owners or to 
slave-catchers in Maryland, without any man darin«- to 
question the proceedings or to inquire by what authority 
doest thou these thing's, or who gave thee this authority ? 
They were taken alonof the public roads and throug-h the 
villages bound, and without any man caring- or daring to 
question or even inquire into the authority of the captors. 
Nay, more than this, such \mis the terrorism of the time, 
such the fear of being regarded as an abolitionist, that 
cruelty and actual death were injBicted upon fugitive 
blacks by slave-catchers, armed with no authority except 
a printed hand-bill with the alleged owner's name ap- 
pended to it, upon more than one occasion in Bedford 
county, and no notice of the occun*ence w^as taken by any 
official nor by the newspapers. 

I relate one instance upon the authority of Dr. William 
H. Watson. I do not recall the exact date, but it must 
have been in 1851, or '52, or '53. An entire family, con 
sisting of a mother and several chilch*en (it runs in my 
mind that there were seven in all), w^ho belonged in 
Virginia, not far from Cumberland, Maryland, escaped. 
They were to be sold ; the necessity of the settlement of 
an estate required this. The mother, dreading a separa- 
tion, fled northward witli her little ones, and with a horse 
which she took along to enable them to travel. They 
were captured six or eight miles south of Bedford, on a 
cold day in December. The doctor saw them in the 
hands of their captors at Centre ville, half way between 
Bedford and Cumberland. They stopped there at the 
tavern to warm. Among tlie children was a lad of six- 
teen or seventeen years, who had on his stockingless 



60 Jieminiscence.s and Sketches. 



feet an old pair of tig-lit boots, that looked like a cast-off 
pair of g-entleman's boots. To secure him, his captors 
had bound his feet under the horses body. His feet 
were frozen, and when his boots were pulled off the skin 
and soles of his feet came with them. No man dared to 
question the captors or interfere \\'ith them in any way. 

In Monroe or West Providence township, a few miles 
south of Bloody Run (now Everett), two fugitive slaves 
were overtaken by a Maryland or Virginia slave-hunter, 
aided by some Bedford county assistants, men who were 
on the qui vive for a reward, and who followed the busi 
ness of slave-catching- for gain. One of the slaves was 
armed with an old single-barreled pistol, Avhich, as the 
captors ai^proached, he drew and exhibited as he retreated ; 
the captors were armed mth pistols and a rifle, which 
latter implement was brought into use and one of the 
slaves was shot at long range. He died and was buried 
near where he fell, and the survivor was taken south. 
There was no coroner's inquest, nor published notice of 
this occurrence in any way, and verj' little comment upon 
it in the neighborhood. 

The slave-hunters of Bedford county, the men who re- 
ceived and posted the liand-l)ills and got the rewards, 
were looked down upon and despised by their neighbors. 
The name of slave-catcher was nearly as much a stigma 
as the name of abolitionist. The public sentiment of the 
better class of the community condemned ]>oth with an 
e(|ual measure of contempt. The slave-catchers were, for 
the most part, a despicable set: they were men who 
drank whisky, chewed tobacco, played cards and loafed 
jiround village taverns. Occasionally, however, there 
was a farmer or mechanic who was sneakingly engaged 



SJave-Catcliing in Bedford Couitt//. Gl 



in the business Each cominunity in the southern part 
of the county contained them. The little knot of them 
in Bedford borough were well known forty years ago. 
They are all dead now with a single exception. 

It is not pleasant to reflect upon the subserviency of 
northern public sentiment forty years ago to the domina- 
tion of the slaveocracy. Here and there in the southern 
border of Pennsylvania were men who saw things in 
their true light and had the courage of their convictions. 
Thaddeus Stevens, for example, who braved public senti- 
ment and stood manfully all through his life an avowed 
anti-slavery man. But, for the most part, the men of 
Bedford county belonged to the great mass kno^vqi as 
dough-faces. Li 1848, Martin Van Buren, who ran for 
President as a free-soil candidate, had but a single vote 
in the comity, and that was my father's. I often heard 
him avow that they might hang him as high as Haman 
before he would aid in enforcing the fugitive slave law, 
and that he would ride a day in the rain to vote for a 
dissolution of the Union if it could not be repealed 
otherwise. But he was alone in the whole town, and, 
with the exception of a few Quakers, in the whole county. 



STOPPAGE OF FLOW OF BLOOD BY 

REPEATING A VERSE FROM 

SCRIPTURE. 

r^LAIR county was erected in 1846 out of parts of 
Hunting-don and Bedford. The line dividing- it fi'om 
Bedford was composed of the division line of townships, 
and it was not distinctly defined. Time had rendered 
the old marks obscure, and in 1850 an act of assembly 
was passed appointing- Samuel Carn, John Bennett and 
Henry Moses to run and mark the line from the top of 
Dunning-'s Mountain to the Cambria county line. There 
was uncertainty as to which county divers tracts of land 
in the mountain region of the Blue Ejiob belonged to for 
taxation. 

The commissioners had authority to employ a surveyor 
at three dollars a day, and two chain-carriers and an ax- 
man at one dollar a day each. I had been admitted to 
the bar in 1849, and was then boarding at the Bising Sun 
tavern, kept by Colonel John Hafer, and had no acquaint- 
ance with the people of the county. My father, a Pres- 
byterian minister, came to Bedford in the fall of 1844 and 
moved away in the fall of 1849. TMien he left I went to 

(02) 



Stoppage of Flow of Blood. 63 

board and lodg-e at the Washing-ton Hotel, kept by Major 
Samuel Davis. Few county people stopped there, and 
Major Davis was not the man to make any effort to aid a 
yomig- lawyer in gaining acquaintances or gt^tting busi- 
ness. Colonel Hafer was bright and active, and his house 
was larg-ely resorted to by county people, for every one 
of whom he had a cheery salutation and a pleasant re- 
mark. He was a live landlord, and he sent me word to 
change my quarters ; that his house would suit me better 
^would make me acquainted with the people and get me 
business; and I immediately adopted his sugg-estion. 

Soon after I took up my abode at the Rising- Sun (what 
a wonderful picture of the orb of day was on the old 
sign ! Liberty Enlig-htening- the World was no^vhere in 
comparison with it!) Sheriff' Carn, on a Sunday after- 
noon, remarked that he Avas gfoing the next day to Clays- 
burg to run the county line, and mentioned the nature of 
the work. I asked him to employ me as an axman. He 
doubted my capacity to endure the labor and fatigue, but 
finally consented. The next day he and I started to- 
gether and went to the ground in Benjamin Garretson's 
hack. The fare was two dollars. The work was likely 
to last one week, and my pay was to be one dollar a day 
and fomid, so that, paying hacrk hire going and i-eturning, 
I was likely to have two dollars clear at the end of the 
week, with clothing- torn, shoes worn out and a tiled 
body, but with some added knoAvledge of the counti-y and 
its iieople and thcur mode of life. I had been admitted 
to the bar nearly a year, and had one audit, on(^ petty 
case before a justice of th(^ peace, and had sat as arbi- 
trator two or three times, and was four hundred dollars in 
debt for money borrowed in getting my legal education 



64 Beni.inlscences ami Hkdches. 



and for law books and my winter's boarding-, and had ar- 
rived at the point where somethings had to be done. It 
was not a very inviting- prospect — this surveying trip. 
Still it was something-. Est aliquid prodire tenus : It is 
something- to go forward a little. 

Wlien we arrived on the gTOund, the surveyor, Sheriff 
Oarn's nephew, was not there. Two of the commission- 
ers, Carn and Moses, the two chain-carriers, and myself 
as axman were ready, but the surveyor was " non est in- 
ventus.^' I had studied surveying- at colleg-e and knew 
how to use the compass, but had no experience in the 
woods, and very little at all except in running- the lines 
of a field. But in the dilemma I sug-g-ested that if we 
had a compass and chain I could run that afternoon, and 
w^e could get a start ready iov the advent of the surveyor 
in the morning, and so a man was dispatched to Scjuire 
Bennett's for his surveying- imj^lements, who soon re- 
turned with them, and we started near the public road at 
Fickes' house, which was said to stand on the line — a part 
of it in each comity— and ran thence to the top of Dun- 
ning-'s Mountain by the course of the township draft, 
found the old marks w ith(:>ut trouble and marked the line 
anew^ by frequent blazed trees. The commissioners were 
experienced woodsmtni and knew how to find old marks, 
and to mark line-trees, and sig-ht-trees, and corners, and 
witnesses, and I pick«>d up this knowledg-e from them that 
afternoon by a little attention and ol)servation. 

The next morning- the sheriff's nephew came to act as 
surveyor, but after consultating- wdtli his co-commissioner, 
the sheriff decided to retain me ; and so I was employed, 
with a prospect of g-etting- eig-hteen dollars for the week's 
work instead of six dollars, with eig-ht or ten dollars ad- 



Stoppage of Flow of Blood. %^ 



ditional for the draft. It was a h'lix thin*;- in tliat early 
day of small l)et^innin.fis. 

The axman was John Kauffman. When we were one 
or two days out, pretty well en\ironed ])y mountain for- 
ests, John was sent with the necessary fmids to get a 
quart of whisky to have along- in eas(^ of snake-])ites. 
AVlien he returned he produced a pint flask full, and stated 
that the man who sold it had no quart flasks, and, there- 
fore, gave him two pint flasks, one of which he said lu' 
had accidentally broken in crossing the fence. A remark- 
able coincidence, however, was that John w^as visibly in- 
toxicated, and this gave rise to the suspicion that he had 
drank one pint himself. While he was absent for the 
whisky a part of the line remained unmarked, and when 
he returned I ran back a half a mile or so to have him 
mark it. AYliilst I w^as taking a sight he was nicking in 
a fallen tree, and the axe glanced and cut him severely, 
a deep gash in the foot on the arch of the instep), from 
which the blood spurted in jets, indicating that a small 
artery w^as dissevered. We w^ere entirely alone in a dense 
forest. I put him on his back, with his foot elevated, 
and made an extemporized tourniquet around his leg with 
a handkerchief and a stick, which I gave him to hold, and 
hastened ofl", retracing the line to get to om* party, and as 
soon as possible John was taken to the nearest house and 
a doctor was sent for. He bled x^rofusely, and it was a 
long time before the flow of blood was checked. 

That night we stayed at old George Kitc^hey's, in tlie 

Switz. The Swdtz, or Switzerland, is the high ground 

between tlie Blue Knob nnd the Allegheny Mountain; 

and the Ilitcheys of that day all believed that certain 

5 



66 Ilendniscences and Sketches. 

persons Ii.-kI the i)Ovver to stop the flow of bh)0(l: and so, 
iu conversation about John Kautfman's wound, tht^y ex- 
pressed deep reg-ret that some man, whose name I do not 
recall, was not sent for to stop the blood by repeating a 
particular verse from the Bible. 

This idea was new to me, and I rather controverted it 
and expressed a disbelief in the possession of any su(;h 
mysterious power, until old Mr. Ritchey was manifestly 
a little vexed by my scepticism, whicli involved a quasi 
censure of his belief, and thus he addressed me: " Maybe 
you are one of those young- men that believe the world 
turns round and the sun stands still." I assured him I 
was. "Yes," he said, "there are such people nowadays! 
What folly ! How silly it is ! The world round, and turns 
round, and the sun stands still! Any child oug-ht to 
know better than that. Why, the houses would all fall oti", 
and the p(H)ple, and the horses, and the cattle, and all 
these heavy I'ocks you have l)een traveling- ()V(;r. What 
Avould hold them on when they g-et on the under side 1 
You don't believe' in the Bible, wliich says Joshua com- 
manded and the sun stood still, and speaks of the rising- 
of the sun and the going- down of the same. You don't 
believe in the Bible, wlii(;h says the flow of blood can be 
sto]3ped, and you do believe that the world turns round 
and the sun stands still! Young- man, you had better g-o 
home. Y^ou've got a g-reat deal to learn yet!" 

All this was a new development to me, and j)ut on in- 
quiry by it I learned that among- the jieoph^ of GeiToan 
descent in Bedford county, forty years ago, the belief in 
the powcn- to sto]) the flow of blood, by repeating- a par- 
ticnilar verse from th<' ]>ibl<', was not uncommon, and 
among- tlie sam<' jx'oiilc at that time there were a num- 



Sfojjpage of Flow of Blood. 67 

ber who did not believe in the rotundity of th(^ earth and 
its revohition on its axis. 

The verse used is the 6th of the 16th ehaptei- of Eze- 
kiel, and reads as follows : 

"And when I passed l)y thee;, and saw thee polluted in 
thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy 
blood, LIVE; Yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast 
in thy blood, LIVE!" 

This belief still exists in some parts of the county. It 
is not every one who can stop the How. According- to the 
current belief, only certain ]>ta^sons are endow(Kl with this 
wonderful power, the basis of which is faith. It is, how- 
ever, not necessary that there should be any faith in the 
subject to be operated on. He may be as sk(^ptical as 
Bob Ingersoll. And it will also work as effectiv(3ly uj^on 
animals as upon human being's, and upon small children 
as upon adults. 

I have conversed with intellig-ent men of age and ex- 
perience, and in numbers not a few, who are firm believers 
in this, and wiio say they must believe it for they have 
seen it done. And they relate instances of divers kind 
\\h(^re, as they think, people would have bled to death 
l)ut for the use of this mystic verse. And it is not nt^c- 
essary that the faith-operator shall be prf^sent with the 
person or animal who is bleeding-. Th(\y tell Ik^w a mc^s- 
seng-er liad gone in hot liaste and how, as was verifi<Hl 
afterward by comparison of time, the blood ci^ased to 
flow at the \ei'y minute the verses was ri^pc^ated. 

The scientist would probably explain all this l)y iiat 
nra] causes — the provision of nature by wliicli tli(> coagu- 
lation of the blood wIk^u it comers in contact witli atmos- 
pheric air tends to stop the flow, and tlie concurrence^ of 



68 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



time MS one of those straiig-e coincidences which some- 
times happen so wonderfully in human affairs. 

There is a fascination about the mysterious which gives 
it an advantag-e over the cold facts of science. But the 
provision by which the blood coag-ulates and checks the 
How of the Adtal current, the tendency of nature to remedy 
the injury and effect a cure, constitutes a mystery as 
wonderful as the use of the verse, even if it had the powder 
attributed to it; nay, more wonderful by far. Wio g-ave 
blood this qualit}^ ? Blind chance or intelligent design ? 



THE TRAVELING SALESMAN 



A FEAV week ag-o I traveled westward on the Penii- 
sylvania railroad on the mail-train. At Johns- 
town a blooming-cheeked g-irl of probably eighteen years 
of ag-e g-ot in and took a seat just behind me. Her ap- 
pearance and manner indicated that she was from some 
(jomitry village. Nicely dressed in her best, her comite- 
nance all ag-low with animation and delig-ht, it was mani- 
festly her first trip abroad, and it was a pleasure to ob- 
serve her innocent enjoyment. Immediately behind her 
sat a young man of rather fine appearance who was prob- 
ably twenty-five years old. I had divested myself of my 
hat and supplied its place with a traveler's cap, and was 
leaning- ag-ainst the side of the car which carried the^ 
sound of their words to my ear, and thus became the 
auditor of a conversation which I wish as far as ])ossible 
to re-produce for a lesson and a warning-, and to direct at- 
tention to a class of men whose influence upon the morals 
of t\m community is to a g-reat extent x^ernicious. I 
mean the ti-aveling salesmen of city houses. T do not 
mean to condemn indiscriminately all commercial trav- 
elers, because, doubtlt^ss, some of them are g-ood men, but 

(69) 



7() licini luscciic.i's an/l HIrc/chr.s. 

a ^r<','it iiKiiiy <>• IIk'Hi Jirc not. 'I'lic tciKlcncy of tlir lii'<^ 
tlicy Icjul is more or l<\ss (Iciuorali/iii^". '^IMh'V an; froinl 
IVoiii ilic r<'stt'aiiiin<j;- iiillii<ui<-(!S ol" lioirK;, and family, and 
(•liiiccli, and f»<M|ii('iitly indulge in the li(HiiiS(; tli(dr mode 
of lif<' allows ix'ciiliar oppoitunitics for. 

I do not kno\s iMcciscly liov\' tlir youn<4" mail l)<;<j;'an 
th<' convci'sation with tlu^ ^i'l, Ix'cJiusc my att(5iitioii vvjis 
not; dir(;ci('(l to tli(an until I heard h(3r, in answer to some 

iiMjuirv, say that she r<'sided at , in Som(!rs<'t 

comity. As I knew the people of that villa;^*' to som<^ 
extent, I l)<H\-ini<' at onee an attentive listeiK^r. 

FHTe spoke (►f the weather" that handy snl)j<M-t upon 
which ev<'ry one can talk and sa,y what li<' pleases with, 
out ^ivinj.'- ollense and then, when 1m' found her respon 
sive, incpiired if she <j;<A. on the train at Johnstown, and 
lina,li\ asked her iKime, and then h(w first nam<\ wliicli he 
said was a very pretty one, which he lia,d always ad mi i-e<L 
He incpiired if she had linished her schooling- and what 
she had studied. She responded freely and llueiitly and 
talked well. He asked if she was fond of society, and 
wli(^tlier she had t ra vele<l l>eh)re, and wlier'e sin; was <.^()in^- 
to, aJid how loni; she exjx'cted to stay, to all of whi('li she 
answered with seemin«^ frankness. They had a lon^' con 
versation in which Iw told liei- h<' was a tr-av(0in«^- sah^s 
nian lor a l>altimor<' house. Iler \'oice was joyous, (lis 
tinct and pleasing-. 1 1 is was ^uaj'ded and suppressed, and 
hut an (xurasiona! word came to my ea)-. P'inally, as we ap- 
proached rittshiir^h, he asked her if he mi«^-]d. (\*ill to see 
her at. the hotel where she sa,id slie wa,s i^oin^' to stay ; 
she r<^plied with evident pleasure sIh' would l)e <j;la(l to S<'e 
him. Poor i^irl, she thoui^ht her (-harms of pei'son and 
her conversational powers had won tiie youn^- man's lion- 



77/r 7'r(fr(/iii(j S(f/rsNHni,. 



71 



csst ;i<linir;iii<)ii, ;ui(l she wjis .-ill iiii|»r<'|);ii<Mi Utv tlin </^^ 
voncincnl wliicli lollowcd. lie s;ii(l, 'wIktc will yon 
scciHcr" She i"(;f)li(Ml, " ill tJir |>;iil()r/ to wliicli li<' ic 
s|)()ii(l(ul, "T will cjilj if \'<)ii will s(M> MIC ill yoni' looin." 
" No," sIk' snid, "I do not Miiiik tJinl would he ri^ld ; I 
li;i\<' never yet r<^eeived m <j;'ent;l<!ri[i}Ui's visit in my room." 
Ileur^^-ed liis re(^U(;st. Sli(; ji^Jiin d<u'lined iliis lime 
with ;i HiisIkmI fae(! and Htartl(Ml eye. She could ;il Hist 
scni'cely r<!;dize the dishoiior;d)le ii;i,t.iiie of his proposi 
tion : when she did, she was ahuined and confMsed. lie 
could not h}iv<! hurt her more, not li;df so much, indeed, 
if he had st»'U(;k he)- a l)low. 

At this iunctur**' I t-iir!ie<l and looked hini full in tli<^ 
fa,ce. We were then within a few miles of l*it,tsl)in<4h. 
I telt iik(^ stepping' l)ack a,nd takiii<^' him hy tin; thioat 
and cliokin^- him. If poss(^ssed of the st»'en<^tli of John 
\i. Sullivan I would hav<' done ij,. Vet what ri^ht would 
I have had.' And how would it have mc^nded ma,tt<'rsif 
The conversation had all Ix^en in ;i (piiet and siilxlued 
tone. No one else had h<;aj-d it. His la,nj^ua,<j;<; was re 
fined and his manner ^(aitlcanajily and cointeoiis. No 
vul^jir or profane word <^sca.[)ed his lips. There was no 
hreacth of th*^ p<--a,ce no a,ssa,ult, none at lea,st such as the 
law re<*ojj;ni/(!S. The blow and the shock wer<' to her 
moral S(;i)se. The offense was a proposition to meet Im-i- 
in liej- room. Il<; meant, a,iid the ;^irl linally understood 
him, a, dishonorahle proposal. 

If I had a(^ted on \\\c impulse and throttled him, it 
would have att)"a.cted the attention of the occupants of 
thecal', to whom I would ha ve a ppearvd to he interferin<i; 
unwaiiantahly in a matter which did not concern iim-. 
'^riie man would liaAo denied that he intended ;iiiv wron<'-. 



12 Hentiniscc nexus nud Hk'dtchcs. 



jiiid jxvrliaps luivc tlirMsluMl luc lor my pjiiiis. Tlu' v(>iiiAg' 
♦>irl would liJi,V(! IxMiU uiiplcasjuitly iiiadc^ tli<' subject of 
ol).S(^rvjttioii and niuiark. The; ucwspapris of the uext 
luoniin^' would liav(^ contained a sensational ])ani^ra])h,in 
wliicth the wholes ail'aij' would hav<' l)e(ni distoited, and thc^ 
<^ii'l and niyscilf made the subjcict of unpleasant i)ublicity. 

When he- saAV by my look tliJit I had ov(^rh(^ard th<' 
eojivcii'sation, he «j;<)t out at the n(^\t station whi(;h was 
East Liberty, a suhurbof Pittsbui'^h. Probably he went 
to th(^ city on th(i cable-car or on the next train. He 
•^■ot out doubth'ss to avoid tli<' contin^(ui(^y of some 
notice l)einjj;' taken of him in a disa«j;r(Hiabh^ W'ly- '^\^<' 
\i;\\\ sat dayjMl and (confused and ha-d not fully recovered 
herself when we arrived at the (h'pot, wheiii she was met 
by a youn*^'- man in tlu- <^arl) of a nwchaiiic, piobably her 
brother. 

Novs, wliat i-emedy is there foi- tliis thinj^:' Was therti 
a wi'on^" done? I do not mean a inoial wroni; •, of courses 
it was an ollVuse a^^ainst morality this pro|)osa,l, a 
wicked, hc^aitless, immoi^d proposition, intended to ruin 
the youji^^ <:firl if she had accepted his suf^>j;'(!stion. What 
;jrief would have come to her if she ha.d yi<'hh'd to his 
puipose :• \Vha,t soiiow to thai (piiet <*()untry home 
when' she is the pride of her father and tlu* deli<j;ht of 
lier mother, and tlie lovinj^' companion of lier biothers 
and sisters? What injniy to the could ry, the stability of 
whose institutions Jind «^()vernment deptuids on tlie family 
relation? Virtue in the women of the nation is as nec- 
(^ssary as valoi- in the men. The man who seduct^s a 
female from (he path of \irtue is a foe to S()ci(^ty, and 
the lirsi step in that direction ou^ht to be a criminal 
olt'ense punishable by law . The simple proposition, thouj^h 



77/r 'rntrclnni Suh sntdii. 



7:{ 



coim'IkmI III ^'t^iil l»-miiiil\ laii^'iia«j<', iis a u r<>ii;_' wliuli (lir. 
Jaw ou^lii to talw ln*l(l ol and |Miiiihli Willi iiiillllicliili^ 
H(^V<'riiy if it in |Matli«al>l«' !»» < hlahliMJi il l»y .salislaclniy 
<'Vi(lniirr,. 

liiil, a,s lli<i lau now ;ilan«l.s, wan llirrr any l«'{_'al (»rr<'iiH«' :* 
l>itl llir man IrajiH^H'HM any law ? Is llinr. any U*.^aJ 
|ti()lt-(-|ion t<t a yoiin^ ^iil tliiiH .siliiatcd an<l IIhim iikm-ii 
laird with a .sil^>^<'Htion wliicli may in lini< ;ia|» li» i 
Nirliir, lt»i wIm» can .say lull Mial IIh- ihaI m somr. siihsn 
*|n*-nl |n()|H)sal <»|' tlii.i LinJ may not win li« i < onst-nt? 

I Im'Im'vt iJmn' iH iKMH'. An invital.ion in rotirtjMiUH 
lan^ni'*^?^" *'''" Hcarcrly \h\ ralh'd a, Inrarli of thr | >« ',a,« •« *,, ami 
mt rr wnids, it is li<-M, do notanioimt to an assault 

It IS all well rnoii^'li to say sIh' on^'lit not to liavc Ixmii 
IraNcIni^; aloiw and nii|)rot<'ct<'d, or it lliiis travrlin^, 
that slw! shoiihl ha\*- Immii warmd hy \{i'\ paK'ntH or 
tnt'iids not to talk to a stranj_'< r on lli«- cars This is to 
sonm (^\:tt*lit tnir., And I w i il<' this article as an admoni 
lion and a, vvariiiii^ to pari'iits a-nd yoiin^' ^'irls. 'ThiH 
\ onn^'; wonuui ou^ht not to lia,vc <'ntcr«'d int(» a, coiiv<'rHa 
lion with a, stia;li<^nr. She has learned a lesHoii Hillleied a 
( I iiel and de^'iadin^' insult Ihit oii^dit sin- to have thus 
sutl'(;re<tt VVJiat did she do that in a- vvell-rt^-^ilhite-di-oui 
miinilv should lia\e hroirL'ht this i'j^'iiomiiiy ii)M)n her ^ 
Shonhl nol (he |^v^ |n<.tect on<' thus Situated ti on. the 
insult ot such a |»io|.osition, as well as troin such tem|. 
tatioii i 

It is not pOBHibh^ aJwn,yH to )ia,ve a, protector The ^ijl 
was makin/j; an excrnHioii trip for a sinf.'le day lo visit 
hei hrollier a youiiL' mechanic, who had {.'one tr(»m the 
<|Uiet, dull couhli \ home to {.'et w'oik al JM'tter wajjeH in 
the <_'rea.t, ;.'rowin,L' city She had sa\<d from her iiiinovv 



74 Beniinuscences and ShrfclK's. 



OJiniiiii^s for nioiitlis to <xvt moiH\v tMioiii^li for the c'li<\ii) 
excursion rates tliat tlit^ railroads allow to a travt'lor who 
returns the next day. Her brotlun- had for weeks aiitic- 
il)ated her visit witli pleasure, and had arraui^-ed tlu> hotel 
at which his i)retty sister was to stop, and was there at 
the train to nie(^t lu^r and escort her to it. To Jier the 
litth^ trip was a l)i^- event. Must they foreij-o all this 
pleasure because of tlu^ possibility of her falling- in the 
way of a traveliui^- harpy f 

Hie parents and fiitnuls of youn^- <j;iils, thenis(^lv(^s uii 
traveled and inex[)erienced, do not realize the dan«;H'r to 
unprotected females. 

But out^-ht there to be any such dan.i;'ei' ^ It is not ik^c- 
essary or possibh^ in our advanctnl civilization to sur 
round women with hi^h walls and exclude them as they 
do in semi-barbarous countries in the eastern world. Fe- 
males should be as free to travel as men, and tlu^ law 
ou<;ht to fuinish them ample protection. J^hei-e should 
be a statutory provision that an immoral pro]^osal, how- 
ever conveyed, directly or indin^ctly, to a youn,i>' ^irl, 
should 1)(* a criminal ollense. It is not ri^^i'lit that the law 
should stand by with folded arms until enticement has 
seduced viitiie, nnd raise no voice of warning;- or threat 
of punishment. 

Doubtless it would b«^ ni:;ht to i(Miuire som(^ furthc^r 
evidence than tln^ i^irrs unsn])])orted oath in i)i-oof of the 
offense, and this mii^ht in many cas(^s be diiKcult to ob 
tain. Nevertheh^ss the law upon the statutes book would 
be of service^; it would stami) ^^i<' ^<'«^1 ^^^ leijfalcondi^mna, 
tion ui)on such (H)ndu(d. ;uul exert at least some restrain- 
ing^- influence upon vice and operate to some extent in 
aid of virtue. 



DAVID al1':\ani)i-:r. 



^ I ^HFi liuniaii Kodv is n wondcrlul st j"U(^tni<\ inarv<^l()usly 
ad;ij)to(l. If rvolutioii produces siicli ;id.(|)<;di(>iis, 
evolution is Ji inir;u*l«v 'Vho liuinaii hand of itself jnoves 
thooxisteiKH^ of ail a,ll-wis(^ Creator no matter vvhctlier 
creation was an instantani'ous aci or hy de^r<'es of <'\() 
lutiou. l>ut the liuniari mind is still more wondi'ifnl. 
Yesterday (February 18, 18*)0) I visit(Ml Moyaniensin^- 
prison and saw tln^re l)a,vid Ah'xander, who la,t(^ly shot 
at l^isliop Wliitaker, and was a,n interested aiidilor of a 
conversation of an hour between him and a commission, 
coniposcMl of J )r. Thomas C». Morton, the llev. Dr. I'ad 
dock, an Episcopal (clergyman, and Jolin A. (^lark, l^jSij., 
appointed l)y tlie eoui-t, umb'r the provisions of a, siatute, 
to report on the prisoner's insanity, with a view io his 
confinement in a lunatic asyhim ratln'r than in th<' peiii 
tentiary, if his condition re<piires il. 

Nothing' shows more conchisivel\ thai the world is 
<j;Towin^ Ixitter than the growth of humaiiiiaiian senti 
ments. Jn a sta,te of l)a,rba,rism, man is cruel. What 
im[)laca,ble haters tlie men who wrote the I'salms were! 

(7.,) 



7<; 



Ifrmiiiiscnircs and Skch/trs. 



What a, vindictive disposition David «\liil>its! IMiilan 
tliiopy lias Immii a j^iowtli, sine. Tlic lunnan<' tr<'a.tni('.nt 
of |)risonris and of tlic insaiH' is an «'\<>lulion, a, ^lorions 
one, \\lii<li makes a man lake piide in linmanity. 'I'lie 
world is i'ai- Ixiier iiian i( was a eenlniy a<^<>. II is 
^Tovviii^'- Ixitter <la.ily. And its possiliilities in this dinu- 
tion, und<'r the ^^uidance ol" 1 ine ehrislianiiy I mean tiie 
ethics ol* the N(^w 'l\'stain<nl are illimitahle. 

David Alexander is twenlv years of a|.'e. His lather 
and mothei" a,»"e l)<)th dead. Alter' two y<'ais ol edn<-aiion 
in 1 he IMiikuh'Iphia hi^'h S(ho<>l. he served as a (-leik in the 
mail <le|)a»tinent of the stor*' ol" Straw] )rid^'e A' dlotJiier 
I'oi" thi('(; yeai'S past, and he iias iM-en I'or several yeais a, 
<Ievont mendxu" of the I^lpiscopal ehin<-h. I'Or y<'ars he 
lias had in view to i»eeome a minister in that d<;nomina 
tion, or, to use his ow n la,n;.'ua^'e, for he is a hijj;h cliMreh 
mail, "a pri(!st in my <niee heloved ehiireh/' lie has a. 
handsome fac<', honest and frank, and a <^'oo(l slia,|)e(| 
h<sa,d, and has always, as he stated, <'nj<)yed «.';ood JK-aJth. 
He eats well, di^'-ests well, sleeps well, an<l n(;v(;j' wa-s 
seriously sick in his lih'. 

The r"e|)ort I <rot (l»nt not from Mr. Alexaiuhr himself) 
is that his fa,th(!r was <wi<.'a«j'-ed in IIh' sale of li(pior, and 
shorteiM-d his life l>y drink, and when nnchr the inlliienee 
of the acciiis(!(l thin;.' ahnsed his mother, or, at least,, did 
not treat her as a kind hushaiKJ should: and so David 
haies rum, and rumsellin^'. and rurrxlrinkin^- with all 
tli<! intensity of an earnest, lionest nature, and this has 
Ix-en his pi(>h)und eons iet ion from IjovIkkmI. Litpjor, in 
Iris view, is distilled daninatioii; to t,aJ<< a sin^-le drink of 
it as a l)e\('ra<j;(! is a sin. All his lif(^ a,s a hoy u^\^\ as a, 
Voun<- man, he was iemarkal>le for- e<nTe<-tn<'ss of ecxidiK-t 



I)a,vid Ali'xiiiuh 



11 



;»ii(l MS .III ;i(l v<M';il.«' ()!' l,('iiii)< r;iii<'<' Ih- Ixmiiic ;iii rnjiH-Hi, 
supporter «»l llir (tiiusr ol" proliihiiioii, )i,ii(l IooIomI l"nrw;i,r<l 
i,() tln' iHlli of JiiiHi l;i,si,, !i,s ;i (hiy i<> lM^<*oirin m<Miiora,l»l<^ 
lor :ill liiiic, hy <«n ji/ikikIiihiiI 1,o IIm^ roiisl-il-iil loii of 
I'nitisyl v;iiii;i, proliiliiliii;.' Uk- rii;iiiiil:Ml uk-, lor h;i,I<', of 
iiiioxi(';i.tin^ li<jiiors. Il<' docs iioi s<<ni for :i iiionHnl to 
)i;i,V(! (loiil)i<'<l iJM^ i'Wu'U'Wiy of IJk' jiiih'ImIiikiiI I,o IJir «ii(l 
(|<^si;.'in(i, ;umI lli;ii ;is n, rrHiilf, if il li.id Immii ;i,<lopl,<M|, llxi 
sbilr would li.ivc \u'i'\\ f»-«;<'d fioin ihf<'iiip<r;inr(', ;i,iid from 
;ill IIh' I<-;_'Io)i of evils, ilie povoriy, ;uid <rmi«'> ;ifid disease, 
;uid de;iili flui-i follow in iis l/r;«,iii 

I wish ;i, sliori IimikI wrii<'r li;id l>«<n present ;iiid ili;il, 
.'in exJM'i report of flie con vers,i,t ion <-ould !)«• prodii«ed 
It would in;i,ke niosl, inUtreniin^' re;ulin^'. 

To tJi<* iiKpiiries of ilie (N>if)iriission, lie r<;f)lied fli.il lie 
li;ul slioi io kill (lesintd io kill ;ind vv;i,s sotry lie li;i<l 
not, killed, liisliof) V\ liif;i,ker, ;in<l ili;i.t, ,'i,s soon ;i.s lie '/n[ 
;i.n op|>orlunil,y lie would reniov**" liini, ;i,nd .i.lso I )r 
M.e,(Jonnell, tlie pasioj- of Si. Siepljcn •; eliurdi; l,|i;if |)» 
Wliituker W;i,s ;i, vile liy po<;rit-e ; t}i;d Im* w;i,s ;i, sue<-esso» 
of tjje ji.postles, ;i, hisliop of Ins one<- l><;loved diureli^ in 
vested hy (io<l witli ;.'re;jit pouej- f(>r ;_'ood,;»,nd Ii.mI ;i,l)U:-ed 
Ins position l>y rej'ijsin;.' to (;onie out for proljihition ; tli;i-t 
he favored hi;.di lieerrse ;is ;iM!i,inst prohihition ;uid wms 
hilse to his trust, 'r}j;i,t Mr. MeConn.ll h;,d ;,;.f upon ;• 
puMie phitforrii Aith li'pioi sejlcj , with ni<n who ••n 
ir/'i^cA in tfje vile Ixisiness of sellin;,' riini 

He was asked, why did you not remove Aiehhishoi» 
lty;j.n, wlio also favore.<j hi^^h lieeuoe ' to whieh he /cplied, 
Arehhishop l»y;i,n did not helon;^ to my onec Ldovcd 
ejjurejj, I h;jd notfunj/ to do with liim 

Ah to Oo<l, lie f)<> Jon;/er l>eliev<!d the/e was such >i l>ei/j^^ 



78 lic/in'niscences aiui Sketche.'^. 

For nunitlis lu^ luul prayed to him in support of pro- 
liibition, and not only he, but tliousands and tens of 
thousands of o-ood people all over the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, not one day, not one hour, not a minute, not a 
seeond, for ^eeks and months, in which earnest prayers 
from devout hearts had not ascended to the alleg-ed thront^ 
of this alleg-ed bein^r men call God, in favor of the cause 
of temperance, and apiinst this accursed traffic in rum, 
NN liicli desolates the earth and causes so much misery 
and crime, and he had refused to hear them. There is 
no God. He beheved in Him once, but no long-er did. 
It was impossible for him to believe that a crood beinir, 
having- power to aid the cause of prohibition, would fail 
to do it. 

To the inquiry, what then do you believe in? he re- 
sponded that lie had joined the Society of Ethereal Cul- 
ture, and believed in tlit^ moral sense. ^Alien asked to 
exi>hun, he replied: As in the ]>hysical world, if you put 
your hand against a red-hot stove it will burn you, and 
instinct makes you avoid it; so in the moral world, if 
you transgress a law of youi" being, something tells you 
it is wrong and guides you ariglit, if you follow its 
teachings. 

To th(^ inquiry, may you not be insane? he replied, 
with a fine expression of contemptuous pity for the 
weakness of the inquirer, curling his lip: Try me. I can 
reason well, my memory is good, there is nothing ^^Tong■ 
^^ith me. If you declare me insane I will appeal to the 
public with my pen. I am as sound as I (^ver was. Can 
you not see that a vile hypocrite ought to be rc^moved f 

I inquired of Mi'. H. M. Bitters, chief of the mail depart- 
ment of Strawbride'e A' Clothier, who confirmed Mr. 



Doxid Altx(xnde,r . 79 

Alexander's statement. For three years h<i harl been in 
that estabhshrnent, and they had no better clerk. His 
conduct had (3xhih)ited no trace of insanity that they 
had observed up to t}i<- tiin<' of tlie siiootin^. He was 
noted for his exerni^lary depoitment and his intellig'ence. 

The committee reported him insane, with homicidal 
tendencifis, and i-ecommended his removal to the asylum 
for the insane at Danville. 

On (^very suljject except this one he was f^ntirely 
rational. In acutc^ness of intellect and in power of 
reasoning- he ai)peared to be the full equal of the com- 
mittee of examiners. He quoted scTipture \dth as much 
facility as Dr. Paddock. His rncrrjory seemed excellent. 
His manners were superbly g-entlernanly. If he had l)een 
the lord of a castle — a British nobleman receiving- visitors 
— he could not have been more composed and courteous. 
He rose to see the committee out c>f the room with the 
grace of a king-, and apolog-ized to Dr. Paddock for a 
casual remark that might have hurt his feelings, with the 
polished politeness (jf a Philadelphia g-entleman. 
'' AMiat a mysterious Providenc^e this is— this unbalanc- 
ing- of the mind of a healthy, brig-ht, active and intellig-ent 
youth? AVhat is the cause of it, and how is it explicable? 
What a blessing the boy's mother is not living.^ How 
she would havfi stuck to her son and believed in him! 
And, if he luid been the accepted lover of a young g-irl, 
what faith she would ha^e in him and how she ^\•ould 
cling to him! Nothing- would have opened their eyes 
except the homicidal tendency. Up to that point his 
earnestness and powers of argument would have lead his 
associates along with liim. It is precisely of such stuff 
that religious enthusiasts, and dj'eamers of dreams, and 



80 RcDuniscenves and Sketches. 



seers of visions liave been made — founders of relig-ious 
sects, with retinues of faithful foUowers. Except for the 
homicidal tendency, he would have been an enthusiastic 
and respected leader of men in the cause of prohibition 
— that class of prohibitionists who make pi-ohibition the 
sum of all virtue. Wiat a very thin j^artition divides the 
sane from the insane ? Some inflamed tissue of the brain, 
perhaps — some nerve, or vein, or artery out of fix. Wlio 
can tell? It is all an unfathomed and unfathomable 
mystery this side of eternity. 



IS SELLING LIQUOR A SIN PER SE / 



TH the keepiiif^' of a licensed tavern or restaurant, with 
a bar for the sak^ of liquors, a sin per se ? That is, in 
the mere sellint^- of whisky, or wine, or beer, for ns(3 as a 
beverao-e, a sin I 

Tlu^ Huntint^don Presbytery lately passed a resolution 
that if a member of the Presbyterian church sig-ns a pe- 
tition or bond for a tavern lic(5nse it subjects him to church 
discipluie ; that is to say, a landlord observing' the law of 
the land in every particular, not sellin*^ on Sunday, nor 
to minors, nor to men of intemperate habits, nor to a man 
visibly intoxicated, is doing- a moral wrong-. His busi- 
ness is inherently wrong-, notwithstanding- the law allows 
it, and it is morally Avrong- to sig-n his petition or g-o on 
his bond, because you are thereby aiding- and abetting- 
him in sin. 

The ground upon which this action can be sustained, if 
it can be sustained at all, must be that the use of liquor 
as a beverag-e is a sin — not the abuse of it, not drunken- 
ness, l)ut the mere use of it as a beverage, under any and 
all circumstances. 

(SI) 

6 



82 Reminiscences and Sketc/ies. 



You cannot sustain this action on the mere ground of 
public policy, because that is a matter of judgment, as to 
which each citizen has a right, upon his own conscience, 
to act for himself. It may be good policy to prohibit the 
manufactuie and sale of liquors for use as a beverage for 
the welfare of the public, and he who thinks so ought to 
so vote. There may be others who honestly think the 
reverse — who believe that a well-regulated license system 
is better for the public good, because they think that pro- 
hibition will not, in fact, prohibit, and will result m a 
greater abuse of drink and a greater use of morphine and 
opium, as in Mohammedan countries, or because they 
think it is not within the province of government to reg- 
ulate men's conduct as to what they shall drink; and so 
believing, these men, acting on their own conscientious 
convictions of duty, have a right to their opinions. 
Ought they to be proscribed or turned out of church con- 
nection f oi- thus believing and acting ? Is it the province 
of a church organization to go so far? 

If you can prevent a man from signing a jjetition for 
license by ecclesiastical anathema, why may you not in 
the same way control his vote ? Wliat right has he to 
vote for a license system if the sale of liquor as a bever- 
age is morally wrong? If it is morally wrong to sign a 
petition for a license, if this is an act for which a church 
member may be subjected to ecclesiastical discipline 
(and this means expulsion or excommunication if he is 
obstinate or persistent, or else the alleged power of dis- 
cipline is a mere threat), then it must be morally wrong 
to rent a house for a licensed hotel, or restain'ant, or breAv- 
ery, or for bottling beer. It must also be morally wrong 
for a lawyer to prepare the petition and bond, and it must 



Is Selling Llqucr o Shi per se ? 83 

be morally wroiif^- for the jiidg-e of the court to g-raiit the 
license. 

No matter that the statute allows it. That is uot the 
question. It is only on the ground of being- morally 
AVTong- that the church, ex cathedra, has a right to condemn. 

If it is immoral to sell for use as a beverag^e, it must 
be immoral to drink it as a beverag-e ; if no man would 
drink it, no man Avould take out a license to sell it : and 
if it is morally wrong- to drink whisky, it must be the 
same as to beer and wine. 

If it is morally wrong to sign a petition for a license, 
then it is morally wrong- to take a singrle drink of whisky, 
or wine, or beer, at a bar or restaurant, and a church mem- 
ber may be disciplined for it. Nay, he not only may be, 
but must be, to be consistent; and if it is morally wrong: 
to take a drink of beer or wine at a bar, or restaurant, 
then why is it not immoral to do the same thing in 
your house or anywhere else ? And if the church under- 
takes to determine what is morally ^^Tong- in one instance, 
then is it not equally bound to determine and declare as 
to all ? 

No doubt the world does move. Times chang-e jind 
men change with them. The day when it was respectable 
to keep a hotel is fast disappearing : but g-ood men and 
church members were eng-ag-ed in this business in former 
times not remote. Tlie march of temperance is onward. 
Its advance within tlie last g-eneration has been with the 
stride of a g-iant. It is supported by a sound and wide- 
spread public opinion that stretches from Maine to Texas 
and across the entire continent. It is no long-er respect- 
able to drink to excess. The very boys in the street 
sneer at a drunken man. Tltc manufacture and sale uf 



84 lieminificeMces and Skdclttfi. 

distilled liquors for use as a beverage would be doomed 
if constitutional prohibition, state and national , would in 
fact prohibit it, and the public mind would become fully 
satisfied on the point. But it is just here that uncer- 
tainty asserts itself, and that g-ood men honestly difi'er. 
And it will not mend matters to interfere with the right 
of private judgment and individual conscience by eccle- 
siastical anathema or discipline. Nor is it wise in the 
administration of distributive justice to bring about the 
destruction of statute law by indirection. If it is right 
to vest the judges with power to refuse all licenses in a 
county on the ground that the sale of liquor is a immoral 
then let it be so established by law and by a vote 
of the people. If that issue is involved in the election 
of judges, let it be so stated by express law, and let the 
people understand and determine, and do not let us have 
a strained local option in one county and a license system 
in another. Better to have a uniform system frankly and 
honestly voted on and clearly established and enforced. 



A HERO AND A SERMON. 



^ I ^O the observant eye, every community has its men and 
women of marked characteristics, differing- from or- 
dinary mortals. There haA^e been, and are now, persons 
in Bedford w^hose lives and characters would make most 
interesting- reading- if they w^ere accurately delineated — 
just as idiosyncratic, peculiar, and eccentric as any that 
are made famous by the g-enius of Dickens or portrayed 
wdth discriminative skill in Neal's "Charcoal Sketches." 
Let me point you to a man of more than ordinary virtue, 
w^ho moves about daily unnoticed, occupying- a very ob- 
scure place in life. He wears a black skin, and can 
neither read nor wTite, and were I to name him suddenly 
you would probabl}^ be disposed to lay down this book 
with a smile of derision. 1 will, therefore, first ask you 
what mental and moral characteristic's in a man are 
admir-able ? AVhat do you think of this list ? Honesty, 
truthfulness, sobriety, industry, firmness, cheerfulness, 
kindness of heart, and g-enerosity. What estimate would 
you ]>lace npon a man possessing all these virtues ? You 
would say, and truthfully, he is no common man, would 
you not f 

(85) 



8f) 



licntnnscriH'rs <ni<l Skrlchc 



Sii|»|)<>S(' M iicM) should i^rovv to niiddh' ;ii;r .i (-(niHrnKMl 
iii(>l)ii;ii«* :t coiiunoii st)'(M't dinuknrd, nlvvnys iiiio\ic;it(Ml 
wIkmi Ik' could ,jj;<>i liciuor ; ;iud tluit lio li.id led iliislii'c 
for lu.'iuy ycnrs, a, d('spis(Ml, JllitiMjitc, drunken uci^io; and 
thai, un(»\])(H't(Mlly, without any human aid, (>x(U'pt his 
own violit.iou, unassist(Ml hyany hclpini;' hand orcounscl, 
inspired by nothini;- save his own conviction t.liat his lih' 
was wioul;, and tliat lie was capahlc of bcttc'r things, he 
should icforni, and th<Miccforth lead a |)(M'f<H*tly sober life. 
Suppos(* thai lie should l)e tempted tinw and ai^ain with 
a prolleriMl <^lass, and always r«'fuse, and that th<> L;ift of 
the <Mitir(^ town of l>(>dford would not inihicc^ him to take 
a. siuLjle drink, and that, sujxm' added to this, the man is 
n<'V(M' heard to sw(»ar an oath, that he never takes a, 
p<Miny's worth of propiMty that does not heloui;' to him, 
that Ih' works industriously at the avocation of bhu^kini; 
boots, that h<' sp<\d<s the tj'uth and lies not, and is uni 
foiinly Ljood n a tu red and coui"t(M)us and kind-h(\'n"t(>d, and 
that his (>ainini:s are <'\pen(led in sui)i)ort iui^' a family of 
di^peiulents who ai'e not remai'kable for imhistiv or any 
othei- virtue, and that his siiii-oundini^s at his Innnble 
Ivonu* two miles fioui town, to which hetrudij'es back and 
forth daily, in all kinds oi wiNithei, ar(> unint(M-(>st iui;- and 
miinvit ini; and not calculated in any way to inspire vir 
tue oi- k(M'p a man fiom vice. What would \o\\ think o'i 
such a man ' 

And add ai^ain that more than threescore^ y(\ars and 
ten have laid lluMr bui'diMis upon his shouldiM's, and that 
notw ithstandiui; this load of \eaj-s he is patitMit and 
cluHM-ful autl greets c\ery one who notic(>s him with a 
pl(\isant respons(\ Ho you not feel lik«> takiui^- otV your hat 



/ //<r<> n)i</ (I St 



87 



ill jn'oloimd sMlnlnlioii to siicli ;i Minn ' IJ'O so 11. would 
1)(> a, fitting" ii'ibiitc! io iiKM-it. IFis nnnn' is Nelson (Jaics 

WluMi tliC! (liviiio (>ss(Mif(> ilia.i inalu^s ilw i<^a,l man, 
s(ri|)|>(Ml of its moriaJ coil, stands Ix^l'or*^ Miai, Jiidfj;(> wlio 
disc«Miis (lie v«MV llioui^lds and inl.<Mds of flic heart, fioni 
wlios(^ all st'cini;- eye noiJiiiii^" can Ix' hid, and whose judt^- 
iiKMif is infallihU" wisdom, what think you of fhe cha.nce 
of fhis man lor a plaudits " W«'ll done i* " 

I knew a, lawyer once, a. i;ra,tluaie of a, colleij;e, of line 
appcaraiK'c, laru;'e clicnt.a^'c, popular, and <>lo<|uent,, who 
mii^hf have ha.d any position in the ;^ifi of the people up 
to judi^c of tlu' court, oi' (Governor of the common wealth, 
if he had had tlu^ self control of this ohsciiie <'(>loi«'d man, 
whose life was iitierly w fccked \>y indult;"en«-e in intem 
peraiice. In the |)resence of eiei'liity tiu^ illit)<'raf,e iK^j^ro 
towcMS al)ove the educated lawyer as the ij;-ia,iit above the 
dwarf. 

And what an elo<|iient sermon on temperance is (Jus 
man's daily life as he walks about anions us, .1, coiistaid. 
reminder of what (^aii be donc^ by a, d<'termined will ! an 
example that indicates uinuistakably that rc^foirnation is 
within any oik^'s reach who is res<>lved to reform, and iJiat 
there is no e\(Mise for any man's uicttiiii;- <b"nnk on t,he 
^•round that he (tan't help it; that it. is a, disease iidienuit 
in his blood; thai his appetite is at tiines beyond Ids 
control, and that h<' is^not responsible for it All such 
paltry and pit.iabh' excuses are <'onfronted by fhe life of 
Nelson (rates with a.n emphati<' contia,dictioii. if, with 
his surroundings, after leadinu; a drunkard's hfe for fo?t,y 
y<'ais, he could tak<' himself up ;ind reform, could close 
his mouth with invincihlc lirmness aj^ainst. the b-mpta 
tions of his ;ippetite. :ind becotne, .md continue to be \'>n- 



88 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

eleven years last past, a i)erfectly sober man, where is the 
excuse for the educated man of hig-h i^osition and refined 
associations who continues to degrade himself "? 

Nelson is a hero and a .sermon. Single-handed and 
alone, without adventitious aid of any kind, or even the 
sympathy or notice of any temperance organizations, he 
fought a g-ood fight and came off conqueror. Take off your 
liat and salute him. He is one of the remarkable men of 
our village ; a shining example of self-control ; a living, 
speaking temperance sermon ; a moral hero ! 



CLAYCOMB'S RIDE. 



TTTHAT a wonderful power there is in a ^lass of dis- 
tilled spirits, in wliisky or g-in, brandy or rum, or 
any other thing- which will make drunk come ! The invis- 
ible spirit of the liquor transforms the man. Sometimes 
it warms up his nature and makes him g-enerous and 
kind-hearted, takes away selfishness and crabbedness, 
transmutes him into a genial and pleasant companion, 
looking loving-ly on all mankind, willing- to do a kindly 
act to any one. It makes tlie man witty, brings out 
his humor and mirthfulness, so that all the air around 
rings with his joyous laug-h, and his very presence is red- 
dolent of gayety, affecting pleasantly all who come within 
the circle of his influence. 

But the spirit is as well a demon of destruction which 
chang-es the man into a fiend. It lies in wait to steal into 
the citadel of his judgment, and dethrone his reason and 
make him a fool. Although a single glass may do no 
harm, it is better for most men, perhaps for all in the long- 
run, to close the mouth with invincible firmness ag^ainst its 
entrance and keep it out. One thing is siu-e that power- 

(89) 



90 Remiyiiscences and Sketches. 

ful as it is when it gets in, it can't get in unless you let 
it, and it is impotent to do you harm if you keep it out. 
It may at first be a pleasant friend, but eventually it is 
very apt to prove a deadly foe, dominating- the man with 
an uncontrollable appetite and making- him a WTetched 
slave; or, if it does not go so far as that, still it arouses 
the evil passions and propensities of his nature, and 
swerves him from the path of truthfullness and virtue. 

So much for moralizing, which is not the main object 
of this writing. I want to tell how this invisible spirit 
served me on one occasion a funny trick. 

In 1864 (it seems but a day since ; how slowly time 
moves while it is passing and how quickly it seems to 
have rushed by after it is gone !) I loaned a young mare 
to the superintendent of common schools to ride in visit- 
ing the schools of the county. At Buffalo Mills, Squire 
Bailey saw and wished to purchase her. Soon after she 
was returned to me I rode her to town and Bailey, meet- 
ing me, asked me my price, which was one hundred and 
fifty dollars. He offered me one hundred and forty, 
and we failed to agree. We were in front of the 
Mengel Hotel. The crowd there was composed, among 
others, of Major Sansom and Sherift' Aldstadt, and some 
one proposed that we should " send out " on it, which we 
accordingly agreed to do, and the matter was referred to 
Aldstadt and Sansom, who soon returned with the price 
adjusted at one hundred and forty -five dollars, which was 
announced with an appended rigamarole running some- 
what as follows: "Two rues, two treats, two stands, two 
treats, a rue and a stand, a treat, and the ruer treats." 
We both " stood," and Bailey paid the money and took the 
horse, and, as in duty bound, I treated. We surrounded the 



Claifcoinb\s Ride. 91 

bar manfully in a row and in entire disregard of the in- 
equalities of human nature by which one person has a 
weak stomach and another a stron4>- one, each man was 
required to fill up his g-lass to a level with his neig-h- 
bors — no shrinking" or dodg-ing- — honest drinking- they 
called it. They were old-fashioned wide-bottomed glasses, 
wide as the bottom of your hand, so that an inch plumb 
made a pretty enlivening- drink as the sequel will show. 

I had not noticed the tenor of the rig-marole that two 
stands meant two treats, and was about to depart when 
it was announced that Bailey was also to treat, and so 
again we advanced and faced the bar under careful espion- 
ag-e that no man would shirk his so-called duty, and sent 
another inch plumb on a wide-bottomed tumbler to keep 
company with its predecessor, and thus I g-ot two solid 
inches on an empty stomach, for it was in the evening- 
just before supper. 

I lived in the country adjoining- the town at my place 
called Echo vale. I had several other colts for sale, and 
a middle-aged man named Claycomb, from Bobb's creek, 
was waiting to g-o with me to look at them. He had 
ridden in on a three-year-old bay colt which Mr. James 
Bowles wanted to buy for one hundred and twenty 
dollars, and Bowles told him he could buy a colt of me, 
that would suit him equally well for eighty or ninety dol- 
lars. Mr. Meng-el loaned me his horse to ride home, and 
(;laycomb and I rode tog-ether over the hill by the road 
then open, but which has since been closed. 

Wlien we arrived at the barn the colts, three in num- 
ber, ware in the yard and we dismounted, fastened our 
horses to the fence and proceeded to look at them. By 
that time " thing-s was workin','' althoug-h there was noth- 



92 Remhiiscences and Sketches. 



ing- ill Claycomb's exterior demeanor or mine to indicate 
it (we were both as g-rave as judg-es so far as I remember), 
nevertheless "things was workin'" as you will see. The 
colts had never been ridden, but they had been salted 
and fondled and were tame and grentle, and as I patted 
them and led them by the foretop and raised their feet 
to show how good their hoofs were, and they stood be- 
side us as quiet as sheep. Clay comb remarked, "Wliy 
how tame they are! Can you ride them?' "Certainly," 
said I, or the spirit of the whisky, rather, "Get right on;" 
and down I stooped and caught his leg- and helped him 
to mount a three year-old-colt, without saddle or bridle, 
in a barn-yard full of mud and manure. The confidence 
and earnestness of my manner, combined perhaps with 
Mengel's whisky (for I believe the old man was a partici- 
pant in the " send out " business), induced him to bend 
a pliant knee and make a spring. No sooner did the 
seat of his pantaloons touch the colt's back than the 
circus began, and a lively affair it was. Talk about John 
Gilpin's ride, and Mazeppa's, and Sheridan's, and the ride 
of Paul Revere ! Haut ! man, they were no- where ! My 
Bobb's creek friend could give them the odds and beat 
them. Claycomb's sudden leap astonished the colt, and 
it in its turn, not to be behind-hand, astonished him. 
Away went the colt*vvitli a spring like a deer, and away 
went the other two colts. In fact Claycomb was, as it 
were, riding the whole three without a bridle on either, 
at least they seemed to think so, and so did he appar- 
ently. "Whoa! whoa! whoa!" he cried, and held on 
with both hands to neck and main. Round the barn they 
went as if his satanic majesty was after them. It had 
been rainy weather. The mixed mud and manure was 



Clayconih's Bide. 93 



ankle deep. From the g-alloping- hoofs of the tlying- colts 
the mud tlew like snow balls. Around and around they 
rushed. It was manifestly only a question of time. Clay- 
comb had attempted the impossible. He tried his best, 
but it could not l)e done. Ofi* he -had to ^o, and oft* he 
did g-o, into the dirt, full leng-th, face down. 

By that time in the profound enjoyment of the enter- 
tainment, I didn't care a fig- whether I sold a colt or not. 
^Ii\ Claycomb arose, wiped the mud from his face and 
clothes, and said in a tone of manifest disg-ust, " I don't 
want any of them," climbed over the fence and mounted 
his horse and rode off, a sadder and wiser man. He had 
learned how utterly impossible it is for the most skilled 
and accomplished horseman to ride three colts in a l)arn- 
yard without a bridle, and I started to my house by the 
IDatli across the field. When I g-ot there and was seated 
at the supper table, I realized that the best thing- 1 could 
do was to go to bed, and with some excuse to my wife, 
such as people make at such times, withdrew " to the se- 
clusion which the cabin g-rants." 

At that time thert^ lived with us a girl named Burk- 
heimer, a neig-hbor of Claycomb's. As we rode down the 
hill shehadrecog-nized him and had gone out and advanced 
l^art way toward the barn-yard for a talk; but the eques- 
trian feat of her ancient neig-hbor and his abrupt de- 
parture had prevented this. Ho^^'ever, she was an ex- 
cited and interested witness of the circus, and to her it 
seemed a marvelous occurrence. She had not been at the 
" send out " as Claycomb and I had, and did not have the 
advantage of looking- at the affair from our stand-jjoint, 
enlightened and vivified and colored up l)y Mengel's 
whisky, and she thoug-ht it was a most sing-ular thing 



94 Ilennnisceuces (oid Skefchc.s. 

that lier staid ueigLbor, a grave, middle-aged man, should 
ride in fifteen miles from his home on Bobb's creek, come 
gravely down the hill, dismount, tie his horse, climb over the 
fence into the barnyard, andsuddeidy jump upon a three- 
year-old unbroken colt, without saddle or bridle, ride like 
Jehu throug-h mud and mire around and around the barn, 
be thrown off, and then just as suddenly depart with his 
face and clothes covered ^vith dirt. It was a thing- worth 
remembering", and she told my wife what she had seen. 

The next morning at l)reakfast, where I Avas presiding 
with all the dignity of a paterfamilias possessed of a wife 
and a year-old baby, my wife, to my astonishment, re- 
marked, "Wliy, my dear, what a queer thing- that was 
you did Avdtli that old man yesterday evening-! ^liat 
made you do it? What in the world induced you to put 
that old man onto the colt without a bridle? Did he 
get hurt when he was thrown off?" 

Well the cat was out of the bag and I liad to make a 
a clean breast of it, and put the blame where it belong-ed — 
on Aldstadt and Sansom and the rest of the crowd at 
Mengel's. 

Clay comb is dead now, but he lived some years and I 
often tried to see him to talk over that little incident, but 
somehow or other he carefully avoided me. When he 
was in town and I got a g-limpse of him and tried to 
meet him he would cross the street and dive into an alley, 
in fact g-o round a square rather than meet me. Funny, 
wasn't it? I never could get near him. I guess he 
thought I was trying to put him onto another colt. 



LESLIE'S APOLOGY. 



/^NE of the best narrators of incidents that I ever 
^-^^ heard talk was George Messersmith, cashier of the 
Bank of Chambersburg-, with whom I used to spend an 
occasional evening when I was holding conrt there, which 
we passed in smoking cigars and swapping stories. He 
had a keen perception of the ludicrous side of human 
nature and that rare and wonderfully accurate descriptive 
power which brings out with a word or two the striking- 
features of an incident, as the pencil of an artist bring-s out, 
with a few touches, the lines that g-ive individual expres- 
sion to the human face. 

Many years ago when Messersmith entered the bank 
as a bookkeeper the cashier was James Leslie, a man for 
whom he soon learned to have a high admiration and 
strong- affection. Messersmith was an earnest w^orking- 
member of the church. WHiilst Leslie was an honorable 
and excellent man, of high intellectual capacity, sterhng: 
integrity and gi-eat kindnc^ss of heart, he seldom or never 
attended church, and indulged in occasional outbursts of 
profanity marked by a (piaint originality which almost 

(95) 



96 Benn)nscences and Sketches. 

relieved tliem from coiidemnatiou. Messersmitli earn- 
estly long-ed for his conversion. It was the desire of his 
heart and the di'eam of his yonii^- ambition. But for a 
long- time he saw no way of bringing it about nor any 
opening by which the subject of personal piety could be 
broug-ht to his attention. But at last, after years of 
watching and })raying, a suitable occasion seemed to otter. 
Leslie was taken with sickness and was very ill. Messer- 
smitli was kind and attentive and aided in nursing him 
back to health, and after he was convalescing he got the 
Rev. Dr. McGinley, a minister of the gosi3el of the faith 
to which Leslie's Scotch ancestors belonged, to call on 
and converse with him on the subject of religion. He 
told the doctor of his longing desire for Leslie's conver- 
sion, and that he was a peculiar man, and must be ap- 
proached with great care, and that he should come pre- 
pared to handle the topic with skill, so that he might 
not startle with a too sudden approach. Accordingly 
the doctor called and after some pleasant casual con 
versation spoke of his illness and how near he was to 
the line which divides this life from the immortality 
beyond, and how his friends and the whole community- 
had rejoiced at his recovery, and then said the time was 
only deferred that must come to all, and that it was the 
part of wisdom to l)e |)repared for it: that there could 
be no higher subject of thought and consideration than 
the soul's ete-rnal welfare, and mentioned the great men 
through the ages who deemed it not unmanly or un- 
wise to make religitm the chief concern of their lives. 
To all this Leslie gave silent but respectful attention, 
and Messersmitli, who was present, was elated with high 
hopes for the success of his little scheme. But finally, in 



Leslie's Apology. 97 



his enumeration of g-reat and wdse men distinguislied for 
personal piety, Dr. McGinley referred to David, the 
sweet sing-er of Israel, the self-made son of Jesse, who 
had risen by-his own valor and g-enius to l)e the ruler of 
a mig-hty nation. This was the feather that broke i\m 
camel's back, and Leslie thereat broke silence ; '' It is all 
very well. Dr. McGinley, that which you have said, and 
it is very kind of you to come and tell me, and most of 
the men you have named were doubtless great and 

g-ood men, but as for that old lecherous rascal, 

Da-vdd, who put XTriali in the forefront of the battle in 
order that hemig-htadd his beautiful widow to his harein, 
he oug'ht to have been hanged, and if he lived now that 
would be his just doom. There is no amount of talk that 

can make me respect that -■ — old scoundrel." 

The disconcerted doctor could not stand this emphatic 
sally. He seized his hat and abruptly departed, and 
Messersmith beg-an to weep. Leslie looked at him in 
surprise and said : " Wliy, Messersmith, what's the mat- 
ter ? " " Matter enoug-h," he replied, and then he told how 
he had long-ed for his conversion and had got Dr. Mc- 
Ginley to come to talk to him, and how sorry he was 
that he had hiu't the Doctor's feeling-s, when Leslie seized 
his hat and declared he didn't mean that, that he would 
g-o at once to Dr. McGinley. And so they both hurried 
along- to the Doctor's house and rang- the bei. The 
Doctor himself, who had just arrived at home, answered 
it, and Leslie took him affectionately by the hand and 
at once beg-an: "My d(^ar Doctor, Messersmith tells me 
I have hurt your feeling-s and given you offense. Noth- 
ing can be further from mv intentions. I liave the 



98 Remiyiiscences and Sketch 



liighest respect for you as a minister of the g-ospel and 
a good man who is trying- to do his duty. It was very 
kind in you to call on me and talk with me. I am very 
g-rateful to you. I would not for the world have hurt 
your feeling-s. I want to apologize. I assure you I did 
not intend it. Wliat I meant was to express my con- 

temi)t for that old scoundrel David, who put Uriah 

in the forefront of the battle in order that he might add 
his beautiful widow to his harem. I have the highest 
lespect for you, Doctor, I wouldn't on any account hurt 
your feelings. I meant no disrespect to you as a min- 
ister of the gospel. It was that old scoundrel 

David that I referred to, Doctor. I do hope, my dear 
Doctor, that j^ou don't for a moment suppose that I in- 
tended to hurt your feelings." And he held to the 
Doctor's hand and damned David until Messersmith, 
in a gieater agony than ever, seeing no other way out of 
it, clapped on his hat and rushed from the entry. 



THE TIPSTAVES. 



OOON after I went on the bencli, in 1871, the retinue 
of the court, composed of a court-crier, an assistant 
and two tipstaves, was chan«red by appointing new men. 
Old Dan Minich was made senior tipstaff, and bore his 
pole of office with becoming gra^dty, as if the entire 
administration of justice rested on his shoulders. Dan 
had been, for many years of his life, a clown in a circus. 
He started as a boy, more than seventy years ago, and 
traveled as a clown, and sword swallower, and contor- 
tionist over all the states from New England to New 
Orleans. 

Colonel Keefe, who was a lieutenant in the war with 
Mexico, where he received a wound in the shoulder from 
a musket ball in the charge at Chepultapec, but who got 
the title of colonel either by serving on the staff of the 
Governor of the commonwealth (who is in theory the 
commander-in-chief of the mihtia, foi'ces of the state) as 
an honorary aid, a post without pay, but which gives the 
right to the high-sounding title of colonel, or else by 
virtue of the law of alliteration for euphony sake, was 

(99) 



100 Re niiniscc rices wid HkHchts. 

also appointed to the place of tipstaft'. The judge's 
bench was then at the side of the court i oom and eg-vess 
from the jury room, at the side of the bar, to the vacant 
jury box, into which the jury had to come when they 
agxeed upon their verdict, was got by traversing the entire 
space occupied by the lawyers in front of the bench. 

Li making this march, the tipstaff, with his pole in 
position, headed the procession, and it was a rather formal 
and formidable looking body, somewhat resembling the 
awkward squad of a militia muster (now, alas ! a departed 
and almost forg-otten spectacle). 

The Colonel, besides being a soldier of the Mexican 
war, spent many years as a gold miner in California, 
going there in 1849, on the first discovery of gold. There 
was a scarcity of female society at that early day, and 
Indian wives were in fashion. The Colonel's Indian wife 
was a sister of Shacknasty Jim, who afterwards became 
somewhat notorious in the Modoc war, in the lava beds, 
which resulted in the defeat of the United States troops 
and the death of Colonel Canby. 

After the Colonel had been inducted into office as tip- 
staff and had conducted one or two juries across the bar, 
some one who knew his terse power of expression and 
keen perception of the ludicrous, interviewed him as to 
how he liked his new vocation, to which he replied: 
"Great heavens! to what mutations does time subject 
us ! Wlio would have thought that a Heutenant in the 
Mexican war, an original 'forty-niner,' the husband of the 
Princess Mary and the brother-in-law of Shacknasty Jim, 
would have come to this — to be playing second fiddle to 
a retired Dutch clown ! " 



DE VENTRE INSPICIENDO. 



TTTHAT a funny thin^i- human nature is ! Man, they 
say, is the only animal which can enjoy a laug'h, 
or g-ive muscular and facial and vocal expression thereto. 
I believe I once saw a horse that had a sense of humor, 
and had his own quiet laugh in his own w^ay at w^hat he 
did. Monkeys sometimes appear to do a mischievous 
thing- with some apparent appreciation of the fun of it. 
But it is only in the higher nature of man that the per- 
ception of the comical, and the ludicrous, and the humor- 
ous have full development, with capacity to g-ive expres- 
sion to these feeling-s by a laug'h. And how much g-ood 
fi hearty laug'h seems to do a man ! It dispels care and 
aids dig'estion, and helps to make life enjoyable. Being- 
(endowed by a wise Creator with the faculty to discern the 
ludicrous and the capacity to laug-li at it, why not exer- 
cise these powers f Not excessively, of course — not to 
imike mirth and the pursuit of fun the chief end of life, 
but to enjoy heartily all that comes casually along-. And 
to the observant eye a good deal comes thus. There is a 
vast amoimt of the fantastical and funny mixed up with 

(101) 



10*2 Reminiscences and Sketches 



life. If departed spirits can see from tiieir habitations 
in the world beyond what g-oes on here, and retain 
their sense of the hidicrous, Heaven's arches must often 
ring- with laughter. 

With what importance and dig-nity a ne\^'ly -elected jus- 
tice of the peace sometimes assumes his office. He has 
been selected by the suffrag-es of his fellow citizens to 
the hig-hly important office of mag-istrate. He is saluted 
by the neig"hbors with the title of "Squire." He has 
been commissioned by the g-overnment. A formal docu- 
ment sig-ned by the Governor and attested by the Secre- 
tary of the Commonwealth, under the broad seal of the 
state, expressing- the hig-hest opinion of his worth and 
confidence in his ability, has been received and recorded. 
He has been duly sworn, has g-ot a copy of Binn's Mag-- 
istrate's Companion, and of Purdon's Dig-est, and a book 
of forms, and has opened an office in his house or shop, 
and has the rig-ht to take acknowledg-ments of deeds, ad- 
minister oaths, issue warrants and summones for parties 
and subpoenas for witnesses, and to hear and adjudg-e 
disputes and bind criminals over to court. His neigh- 
bors all assume that he knows the law. In some mys- 
teiious way, by virtue of his commission and induction 
into office, he is supposed to have acquired knowledg-e of 
the law. The people who come to consult him all assume 
it. And he himself feels that somehow it must be so and 
acts according-ly. Not to know under the circumstances 
would be dereliction of duty. 

Thus it happened with Squire M., of Confluence. An 
information had been made })efore him by a young- g-irl, 
who had "loved not wisely, but too well," ag-ainst a 
neigrhborino- vouth who was charsred bv her ^^'ith an of- 



De Ventre Inspiciendo: lOS 



feiise ag-aiiist the law of the hmd, that was likely to add^ 
before long", to the population of the village, a little mor- 
tal who would be fatherless, but for some legal proceed- 
ing- in such case made and i^rovided. The defendant was 
arrested and bound over to answer the charge at the n(^,xt 
term of quarter sessions of the peace of the county. 
But when that time had arrived the expected little stranger 
had not put in an appearance, and the case was continued 
by the court at the request of the prosecuting attorney, 
and the defendant required to renew his recog-nizance 
to appear at the next sessions. After an interval of 
several months, when the next court was approaching- 
the talk of the neighborhood was, that from the young- 
woman's look she had made a mistake, and w?is not 
in the way in which " ladies who love their lords de 
sire to be." And so the young defendant went to the 
justice and asked his advice. He said that lie ought not 
to be put to the exx3ense of going to coui't ag-ain, and that 
there oug-ht to be some way to stop further proceeding- 
and expense. The sug-g-estion struck the justice as rea- 
sonable, and he told the young man to call the next day, 
that meanwhile he would examine the law and be prepared 
to advise him. 

Somewhere in his limited library he read of the wi-it 
" de ventre inspiciendo," and he thoug-ht this was the pro_ 
per occasion for its use. But the law-book said the duty 
of the officer charg-ed with the execution ol the writ was 
to summon six discreet and experieiu^ed matrons to make 
the examination. The justice thought the work could be 
l)etter done by the villag-e doctor. It would be too com 
plicattnl a matter for the constable to select six matrons 
of the character and attainments indicated, and \i would 



104 Rerainiscences and Sketches. 

be likely to raise a most wonderful village commotion 
tliat would end dear knows where. Better amend the 
common law and adopt a new proceeding- more suitable 
to modern days and the village of Confluence. In an- 
cient times when the matter in hand demanded it, the 
judges in England had invented new writs. They had 
devised the action on the case to meet the contingency of 
consequential damages. They adjusted proceedings to 
the necessity of the occasion, and why should not he ? 

He, therefore, had the young man make an affidavit of 
the facts of the case, that he was informed and believed 
the maiden was mistaken, that this was the general talk 
of the towTL, and that he desired to have this suspicion 
a,nd belief verified by a search warrant for that purpose. 
This proceeding was duly docketed, and the writ issued 
to the constable commanding him to summon the doctor, 
and forth witli proceed witli him to the house of the maiden 
and that the said doctor, by inspection and examination, 
determine the truth of the case and make report, and that 
the constable should make return of the w^rit. All which 
was done and the proper entries made. The event proved 
that "the maiden all forlorn" was not mistaken. It was 
the village gossips who were. 

The justice made a formal return of these proceedings, 
not forgetting to tax up the costs, to the district attorney 
of Somerset county, w^here it is to be hoped they yet 
remain on file in the case, as a model for the next maker 
of a form-book who may avail himself of Squire M.'s 
oiiginality. 

Doubtless proceedings ol justices of the peace would 
exhibit many another matter equally amusing. One I 
recall. Two men of Bedford county had a verbal quar- 



De Ventre Inspiciendo. 105 



rel, in which angry words and some profanity were in- 
dulg-ed in on both sides. One of them made an informa- 
tion before a justice and liad a warrant issued in the name 
of the commonwealth to fine the other for profane swear- 
ing", under the statute which provides a summary penalty 
for that offense. He probably was not aware of his own 
profanity, for it is not uncommon for men accustomed to 
swear in early life to indulg-e in it in their more mature 
years, unconsciously, in a fit of ang-er. I have known ex- 
emplary church members make exhibitions of this kind 
and be very indignant when charged with it. When the 
proceedings were started, the other party returned the 
compliment by having his adversary arrested for the 
same offense, and the cases came on to be tried at the 
same time before the justice, who, after hearing the evi- 
dence, administered the law by the introduction of the 
equitable doctrine of set-off. He made up an account, 
in which he charged A. with his oaths and the fines set 
opposite as fixed by the statute, and credited him with 
the oaths sworn by his adversary B., and gave judgment 
in favor of the commonwealth and against A. for the bal- 
ance. The case came into court on certiorari. If each 
had sworn the same number of oaths, logically the jus- 
tice would have dismissed the proceedings at the cost of 
the commonwealth. 



A CRUEL WAG. 

/COLONEL Edie and Colonel Hug-us were admitted 
^■^^ to the bar at the same time. Hug-us always claimed 
to be the older lawyer because he was sworn in first and 
was punctilious in having- due precedence in the calling- 
of the bar list, where the lawyers are entered according- 
to seniority. Wlien they were examined for admission, 
Thompson was president judge. He appointed a com- 
mittee of three visiting- lawyers from adjoining- counties, 
the young-est member of which was Sam Austin, from 
Fayette. When the examination closed, Judge Thomp- 
son said, in a very g-rave and dig-nified manner, "Young- 
g-entlemen, you can now withdraw, and the committee 
will consider your application and let you know the 
result in the morning." Edie, in g-reat anxiety, ap- 
proached Austin, who was neaily of his age, and asked 
him what he thoug-ht of their chances for admission, to 
which inquiry Austin, who was a cruel wag- and who 
discerned Edie's uneasiness, replied, "Well, I think it a 
little doubtful. The committee is to meet and decide in 
the morning; but, as we adjourned, the chairman of the 
committee remarked, ' I do not think these young men 

(10t>) 



A Cruel Wag. 107 



have got very far within the temple of justice.' To which 
Jiidg-e Thompson responded, 'Nor I, sir — I think they 
have scarcely g-ot within the vestibule.'" With which 
disquieting" information Edie passed a sleepless night, 
only to learn in the morning that the entire statement 
was a fabrication of Austin's. 



A lURY TRIAL. 



nnRIAL by jmy is sometimes a g-ood deal of a farce. 
Under a clear-minded judg-e, who takes the respon- 
sibility of analyzing the evidence and indicating- clearly 
an opinion for the g-uidance of the jury, it is not a bad 
tribunal. Nay, it is a very good one -. perhaps as good as 
human ingenuity can de^dse. It amounts substantially 
to a decision by the judge, operating by process of 
reasoning in the presence of the public, so as to move 
the minds of twelve common men to a just appreciation 
of the case. Oftentimes the twelve common men are of 
themselves very incapable of making a correct analysis 
of the e^ddence and a discriminating judgment, and when 
there is a judge on the bench who avoids responsibility, 
who throws it over on to the jury as the judges of the 
facts, and excuses himself from expressing any opinion, 
confining himself merely to the rulings of the law, results 
are very uncertain and frequently unjust. The jurymen 
are in a novel situation. They hear plausible arguments 
on both sides, and their untrained minds are confused 
and obscured, and unable to discriminate between sophis- 
try and logical argument. 

(108) 



A Jurii Trial. 109 



As illustratiiii;- tlio iiiioer freaks of juries, the following 
incident is apropos. Some years ai^o, at Somerset, in the 
quarter sessions, an indictment was found a true bill, 
chargini^- a woman with keeping- a house of ill-repute. 
The case came to trial ami the evidt^nce on behalf of the 
commonwealth was heard, which made out a plain case 
for conviction. The defendant had no witnesses. Her 
attorney, thinking it unnecessary to waste the time of 
the court, declined to address the jury, and they went to 
their room with tlie short charge from the court that if 
they believed the evidence they ought to convict. They 
remained out a long time, and finally came in with a 
verdict of acquittal, much to the astonishment of lawyers 
and judge. The result was so surprising that inquiry 
was made of one of the jurors how it came about, and his 
narration disclosed the following facts. When they 
retired to their room, their first act was to vote by ballot 
in a hat. The vote showed that eleven were for convic- 
tion and one was for acciuittal. The one voting for 
acquittal was an old man named Hartzell, a person of 
strong religious convictions and a believer in the doctrine 
of baptism by immersion, who was always read}'^ to dis- 
cuss the scriptural metliod of baptism and to prove by 
citations from the testament, which he carried with him 
in his side pocket for that purpose, that a man must 
either be dipped or be damned. Forthwith Mr. Hartzell 
set himself to work, New Testament in hand, to convince 
the eleven that the woman ought to be acquitted. He 
didn't deny her guilt. On the cx^ntrary, that was the 
very gromid upon which he demanded her acquittal. 
"For," he said, "gentlemen, all scripture is written for 
our direction and edification. It is intended to govern 



110 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



our conduct here in this world. There was a trial once 
of a similar kind before a g-reat judge, a far g-reater judg-e 
than any who ever sat in Somerset county, the blessed 
Saviour of mankind. The charge was adultery, and the 
woman was taken in the very act; and by the law of 
Moses, which was the law of the land, she was to be 
stoned to death. And what did the Great Judge do, gen- 
tlemen I He said, ' let him who is mthout sin among you 
cast the first stone,' and that's what I say to you, gentle- 
men." And then he read the account of it in the eighth 
chapter of John, and in solemn silence the second ballot 
was taken, and resulted in an imanimous verdict of ac- 
quittal. 



SOME OBJECTIONS TO THE LAW 

ALLOWING PARTIES TO 

BE WITNESSES. 



"DLIND conservatism is not m, commendable character- 
istic, nevertheless the advocate of change has the 
Imrden of proof. The presumption ou^ht to stand that 
whatever is, is rig-ht. He who supports an alteration in 
existing' habits, or customs, or laws, sliould be required 
to demonstratt^ the advantag-es which are to follow by 
very clear and satisfactory evidence ; because to go back- 
ward is impossible. Prog-ress in a nation s life is like 
time in the life of an individual. It cannot be recalled— 
once g-one it never returns. Prog-ress is like a ratchet- 
wheel — you can pull it forward tooth by tooth. If you 
try to let it out a little, it goes backward with a run. 
The youth (^an never be a child again. The man can 
never be a youth. If you make erroneous chang-es in 
habits, or customs, or modes of thoug-ht, or laws, you 
never can gfet exactly back to the place you started from. 
The nation's life, its customs, metliods and laws are a 

g-rowth, a development, an evolutiou. It is, therefore, of 

(HI) 



112 Reminiscences cind Sketches. 

immense importam-e to hold fast that which has answered 
a g-ood purpose, and to A^enture with great caution upon 
the new and untried. 

I read lately an address by a judge, for whose opinion 
I entertain a very high regard, reviewing his career 
upon the bench for twenty years last past, in which 
he speaks of the change of the common-law rule which 
excluded parties in interest from being witnesses, in 
terms of great admiration. He says that nowhere in any 
treatise on evidence has he ever seen any reason given for 
the rule, except that it tended to perjury, and that that 
is a matter with which the law, as the agent of distribu- 
tive justice between man and man, has nothing to do, ex- 
cept to punish it when it is indicted and convicted : that 
the moral question of perjury is for the individual and 
for preachers and priests, and the common-law rule was 
antiquated folly in that it condemned to silence the very 
persons of all others best qualified to testify, those who 
were in the nature of things, by reason of their interest 
in the subject matter of contention, most likely to be fully 
informed. 

My observation as a judge and lawyer has led me to a 
different conclusion. I think the change has been pro- 
ductive of evil in the following particulars. 

It tends to make persons careless of their contracts. 
They do not reduce their bargains to writing, or exercise 
vigilance to have witnesses present, and misunderstand- 
ings are more likely to arise and an increase of litigation. 

It induces false swearing. I will not say i)erjury, which 
is "v\ilful, intentional and conscious false swearing, but 
false swearing in fact, because no one is a good judge in 
his own case. He is biased. He is a self -deceiver, more 



Objections to Parties being Witnesses. 113 

or less unconscious. He works himself into a belief, and 
in fact swears falsely. This is human nature. It is 
demonstrated by the patent fact that the statements of 
the parties are directl}^ antagonistic — Hatly contradictory. 
If self the wavering balance shake, its rarely rig'ht ad- 
justed. 

It degrades the sanctity of an oath. One side or the 
other is swearing falsely : both cannot be correct ; and the 
public who hear and see this, conclude that the one or 
the other, or both, are wilful liars; and constant exhibi- 
tions of this kind every court tend to destroy confidence 
in human integ-rity. The tendency is to reason thus: If 
such men as these, of high character, and standing, swear 
falsely, then who is to be believed ? All men are liars. 
And if such men as tliese lie, why should I be solicitous 
to observe the trutli i 

It makes frequent lawsuits in which there is no evi- 
dence on either side, except the oaths of the interested 
parties. The jury is compelled to decide between them. 
How are they to do it? They are made judg-es of the cred- 
ibility of the witnesses. How can they tell which to be- 
lieve ? They, therefore, decide the case upon some mat- 
ter outside the evidence, on some whim or notion, or on 
something they have heard. And they thus decide 
not on the evidence as they are sworn to do. They 
themselves become, from necessity, violators of th(^ir 
oaths. It is compelling them to decide by g-uessing*, re- 
quiring them to m^die bricks without straw. And if they 
do this in one case, tlie tendency is to do it in other cases. 
It induces a drift in the minds of jurors to decide by 
some other means than the sworn testimony. 

If there is evidence outside of tlu' ))arti<'s, tli<Te is no 
8 



114 lirniinibcotccs (iiul Skcic/ics. 

need of the new law. If there is not, and tlie controversy 
is to be decided on the oaths of the contestants alone, as 
is very frcniuently the case, then ch^uk^s the strain, l)oth 
on contestants and jurors. The jury are to jud«^e (^f 
credibility, and they are o^iven nothing- l)y which to judge. 
How are they to determine and decide 1 They are for the 
most part men not deeply skilhxl in human nature, and 
are liable to be swayed by sophistic^al ar^fuments of coun- 
sel and a, plausible statement of a party. It gives the 
slick ro^ue an advanta.£!:e over the honest man, the quick- 
witted, skilful talker, owy the dull man. The case is de- 
cided by sophistry, or ])rejudic^e, or sympathy, or whim. 
If jurors are competent judi^-es of credibility by rules 
of physiognomy, by studying the face, or eye, or manner 
of witnesses, then why make the excepticms that are 
made 1 Why have any exceptions arising from the death 
of one party 1 Better hear all the evidence in every case 
and let the jury judg(^ of what weight it will have. The 
very exceptions of the statute, preserving the common 
law rule in the excepted cases, tend to show the wisdom 
of the common law rule in its entirety. 



THE BATTLE OE SAXTON. 



HOW SUPERINTENDENT GAGE AND CONSTA 
BLE JONES SURROUNDED AND CAP- 
TURED THE ALTOONA GUARDS. 



"TN the ye:ir 1879 the Altoona Guards, under the eom- 
inaiid oi Captain Guthrie, visited the Bedfm-d fair. 
They eanie in a special ear. which, by previous arranofe- 
nient, was to c(^nvey them on a certain day and by a }>ai-- 
ricular train to Bedford ;uid return on a certain other day 
and train to Altoona, and they paid a reduced fare for the 
i-ound trip on the basis of retm-ning' by tln^ Huntina'don 
and Broad Top railroad on the rei^'ular train. In niakina* 
this trip they passed over the Pennsylvania railroad ivom 
\ltoona to Huntinirdon. then m-er the Huntino-don and 
l^rc^ad Top railroad to Mt. Dallas, and then a,£;-ain on the 
Pennsylvania raih-oad (Bedford diWsion) from Mt. Dallas 
to Bedfcn'd. But whilst at Bedford they concluded to re- 
main long-er and return in the evening- by a special euirine, 
and they made an aiTaniZvment witli Mr. Smith, the su- 
perintendent of the Beiiford divisicui. for such a train at 

(115) 



116 Betniniscences and Sketches 



the desired hour. Mr. Smith conferred by telegrai^h with 
Mr. Gag-e, the superintendent of the Huntingdon and 
Broad Top road, who ag-reed to carry tlie special on his 
hne at tlie time desired on the payment for each soldier 
of an additional dollar, which arrangement he supposed 
was accepted by Mr. Smith. 

Off they started on their return trip, and until they 
reached Mt. Dallas all went merry as a marriag-e bell. 
At that point, where the motive power is changed, the en- 
gine of the Bedford division being unhitched and the 
Huntingdon and Broad Top engine hitched on, and the 
engineer and brakemen of the Huntingdon and Broad 
Top road taking charge of the train, they encountered a 
difficulty. The conductor demanded the additional sum 
of one dollar each, which they declined to pay. Acting 
under orders, he then undertook to put their special car 
on a side track. This they resisted, and, by command of 
the captain, a squad of soldiers took possession and con- 
trol of the engine and refused to let it be moved, except 
in the direction of Huntingdon, and threatened to run the 
train themselves. For two hours this dead-lock continued, 
but finally it resulted in leaving the special car and sol- 
diers on the side track, where they remained all night. 
WHien the regular train came along the next forenoon, and 
reason had resumed the throne from which inspiring bold 
John Barleycorn had for a time unseated it, they paid the 
additional fare, their car was attached, and they proceeded 
towards Huntingdon damning the superintendent, little 
dreaming what a foe they were to encounter on the way. 
Gage is not a big man, but he is big for his size. He is 
paid for managing the Huntingdon and Broad Top rail- 
road and superintending the running of its trains, and 



The Battle of Saxton. 117 

proposed to discharge the full measure of his duties. He 
intended to be consulted at least as to the running of 
trains on his road, and that no man, however distinguished 
lie was as captain of a volunteer military company, should 
take possession of an engine on his road and delay it and 
its crew of hands for two hours with impmiity. His road 
was not as long as the Pennsylvania road, but, neverthe- 
less, it was a duly chartered road, with the franchises and 
powers, rights, privileges and duties of any other road 
however large, and he proposed to let his big neighbor 
and the militia captain know in an emphatic way, which 
they would remember for all time, that neither he nor his 
road were to be underrated or unwarrantably interfered 
with. 

He, therefore, had an information made before a justice 
of the peace of Saxton, a village on the line of his road 
midway between Mt. Dallas and Huntingdon, charging 
the militiamen with a riotous, unlawful and criminal in- 
terference with the running of an engine, contrary to the 
act of assembly in such case made and provided. The 
train aiTived at Saxton at high noon of a hot October day. 
The sun poured down his ardent rays with unobstructed 
fervor, and every one who was compelled to go out sought 
the shade. The depot at Saxton is in a hollow, the jus- 
ti(*e's office in the town on a hill, access to which was 
gained by a slanting path, steep as the ascent up which 
Excelsior climbed. 

The constable, who liad charge of the waiTant, was a 
very small man, shabbily dressed in his ordinary working 
clothes. Like Cincinnatus and General Putnam he had 
been suddenly summoned from his plow, or other daily 
avocation. But with the majesty of the Commonwealth 



118 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



of Pennsylvania behind him, he felt equal to the occasion, 
and he entered the car and arrested the whole military 
company, lock, stock and barrel, from captain to corporal, 
with the privates thrown in for good measure. With 
profound solemnity and with the seriousness said to be 
exhibited at a christening- by a woman of a certain char- 
acter, he produced his warrant and informed them that 
they were his prisoners and nnist at once accompany him 
to the squire's office. If a thunderbolt had pealed out its 
reverberating- notes from a cloudless sky, the military 
men could not have been more surprised and confounded. 
They had scarcely ceased damning- Gag-e and his little 
road and threatening- veng-eance on him, and here they 
were surrounded and ignominiously captured by a little 
constable in shabby clothes with a red pug- nose. They 
held a hurried council of war ; what was to be done ? 
The train was stopped. They could not go on unless 
they would take violent possession and run it themselves. 
They could not well shoot the poor little constable who 
stood bravely confronting- them Outside was the hot 
sun g-laring down on the steep, slanting- path. It was an 
awful dose of humble-pie. Talk about eating crow ! This 
was far worse. But what was to be done ? They were 
confronted by a condition — a l)lank bad condition. Swear 1 
Yes, they did that. Individually and collectively they 
swore all they knew how, which was a good deal. Swore 
like the army in Flanders, but it did no g-ood. It was a 
contingency of war they had never dreamed of. Little they 
thought when they s(^t out of fig-liting- such a fight. Gage 
had control of the telegraph as well as the railroad. 
They could not even counsel with their friends or ad\ase 
the outside world of their mishap. The more they 



The Buttle of Saxton. 119 



thoug-lit the more they did not know what to think. As a 
master of grand strategy Gag-e seemed to have few equals 
and no superiors " so far as they had traveled and so far 
as the}' had been." The inevitable had to be accepted. 
Out they g-ot. The captain formed his men in line, sin 
g-le file — the path up the hill would not permit any other 
formation — "shoulder arms! right about face! march!" 
and awa3^ they went by word of command up the hill by 
the slanting })ath, with the little constable close at the 
captain's elbow. It was a majestic exhibition of the sub- 
ordination of the military to the civil power. The pas- 
sengers, to whom the whole thing was an unexplained 
mystery, looked on in profound astonishment. 

Gage held the train. He intended they should get bail 
for their appearance at court, which they did. The justice 
accepted the captain and lieutenant to stand vicariously 
for the whole company, and these two officers entered 
into bonds to be and appear in their proper persons at 
the next court of quarter sessions of the peace to l>o 
liolden at Bedford in and for the county of Bedford, to 
answer the charges of riot and interfering with the train. 
In half an hour they returned. A more crestfallen and 
dejected military company never stood in ranks. They 
had met the enemy and they were his — were taken pris- 
oners, marched in a body by a constal)l(\ and discharged 
on parole. As they came down the hill in the presence 
of the waiting passengers gazing with extended necks 
from the windows, they looked as if they would sell them- 
selves at a verv moderate price. As court approached, 
Gage heard from Altoona rumors that Captain Guthrie 
had employed (counsel and intended to fight the case, 
with the ho])(^ that a jury (never inclined to favor a rail- 



lliO Ii<'nn'in's(;('iu'('s <iml Hh'<'l<'li(!<. 



rojul coinp.-iiiy) luiqlit ;i('<|uit tlu^ (Idcndaiit-s .iiid |)ui \\n\ 
costs on tlu* pi'oscciitor. Tmt .1 court trial \v;is no partol 
liis |)ro«;rannuc. Itailroad men have no time to waste in 
attending;- t'oi- days the dc^layed aiid uncei-tain proceedinj^s 
of a court ol* justice. Wliat lie \vaiit(Ml was a, l<'tt(M- of 
a[)oloi;y from (laptain (lutluie a,nd the payment of the 
costs of th(^ case. He, tlicM-efore, took out a subpoMi.a for 
witn(^ss(^s on In^half of tlie commonwealth and caused it 
to he serv(Hl on all th<' chief olliccMS of the Peiuisylvania 
road at Altoona, recjuirini;- them, in the name of the com- 
monwealth, laying- aside all business and excns<'s wliat- 
soev(>r, to hv and ap})ear in theii" pro[)er i^ei'sons at the 
next court of (juarter scissions of the pc^ace to be holden 
at Bcnlford, to testify the ti'uth accoj<bn.i;- to tluMr knowl- 
edi^-e on bidialf of the commonwealth a*;"ainst the mili- 
tary company. This was the <'i)Hi> dc </r<icc. They could 
not stand it. The next train brought on(> of the Penn- 
sylvania raib'oad otHcials earnestly protestini;- and beg"- 
i^in^" to know what was waiitiul, and what nuist be done 
to cud the case. It was utterly imi)ossibl(^ for th<> su})er- 
intendent, manai^'er, master of shops, and all theother of- 
ficials to leave their positions and i^o to liedfoid to sjx'nd 
several days in attendance on this case, and it imist be 
ended on any terms Ga-i^'e recpiired. So the lettiM' of apol- 
oiiT and reg-ret was written and sii^iied by the captain and 
svut, and the costs were paid and \]\v case droi)ped. Tt 
is needh^ss to a(ht that the Altoona (biards have never 
since then intt^rfered with a Huntinplon and Ih'oad 1\)]) 
train. 

Pluck, n(M'Ye, i;uni])tion- these are i;r(\it (pialities. T 
knoAv what to (hi in an enieri^vncy and })romptly to (h)it 
this is o-enius. 



o 



THE ANCIENT AND VENERABLE 
ORDER OE ECCLAMPSLS VITLS. 



T"X 1847, while I was readin^^ law, tliere came to Bed- 
ford, from tli(! west, a traveling agent for a patented 
inv(intion (jf a (;utting-Vjox. Hf) instituted a new secret 
society called the Ecf-lam/psin Vitin. It was in truth a 
})url(}S(iu(ion all secret societies — an exaggerated travesty, 
full of fun and very enjoyable for the younger members. 
The secret of tlie tiling was wondfiriully w^ell kept for 
many weeks, and the society flourisherl and liad grown 
to large proportions, with numerous c-andidates for in- 
itiation, at the time of the deMOimmeMt, which resulted 
in its downfall. 

Thf.' society was constituted with a woi^thy patriarch 
and twT) past grand worthy patiiarchs, witlj (jut-door 
sf^ntinels and in-door sentinels, and divers other officers. 
The (ceremony of initiation was formal, solemn and im- 
posing. The place of meeting was the grand jury room 
of the (;ourt house, quite a large room, now divided by a 
partition into two rooms, one of which is used as the 
sheriff's office and the othca- by the recorder of deeds. 

Behind a long ta})le sat the gxand worthy patriarch, Joe 

(121) 



122 Reininit^ences and Sketches. 



Mann, as homely a specimen of humanity as you couhl 
find in a week's travel, who was then a student-at law. 
He was supported on either side by the past grand 
worthies, John Otting-er and Ben Cromwell. The only 
light in the room was a short piece of tallow candle, 
which stood in the center of the table in front of the 
worthy patriarch, without a candle-stick, supported in an 
uprig-ht position l)y a spot of its own grease, droi)ped on 
the table for that purpose. The dim light only sc^rved 
to make darkness visible a*id show tlu^ eyes of the circle 
of members who sat ai'ound on chairs and bcmches. 

The candidate for initiation was coiiduct(Hl by the 
friend who had proposed him, to the sentinel, who stood, 
armed with a musket, in tli<^ entry on the outside, of the 
door, to whom he made known that he had a candidate? 
duly voted on and now pres(?nt for induction into the 
ancient and venerable order of Ecclampsis Vitis ; where- 
upon the outside sentinel rapi^ed thrice upon the door, 
which was opened an inch or so, and a stern voice from 
\\dthin demanded, "Wlio is there and what is wanted? 
By virtue of what authority do you venture into the 
sacred precincts of the ancient and venerable order of the 
Ecclampsis Vitis?" Wlien informed in extcmded lan- 
guage, formal and j^recise, of the name of the candidate 
and of the member who vouched for him, the door was 
opened and the candidate turned over, in the dim light, 
to the charge of two stalwart inside sentinels, armed Avitli 
bayoneted muskets, each of whom took him l)y an arm 
xnd marched him up in front of the grand worthy 
patriarch, whom one of them informed, in stilted language, 
"Most worthy patriarch of the ancient and ven(iral)le 
order of Ecclampsis Vitis, we present here to you. for 



llic Order i>f KccUiinps'ts i "it is. 12ii 

initiation into the niyst(a;ies and Ixiu^lits of om- most 
wonderful, and benevolent, and (exalted order. Mi-. IJI.mk, 
wlio is vouclicd for as Ixun*^- an intellifrciii, iipri;^!)! ;ind 
virtuous citizen, l're(^ from l)odily infirmity, hy oui- most 
worthy Brother Bhink, whose name, liavin*;- Ixieii (hily 
l»roposed, was voted on, and no siiif^h; hlack l)a]l havin<^- 
been east a<^ainst him, was <hily acc('j)ted, jind is now 
l)resent for initiation into thci si^ns and n)yst(;ries of oui- 
beloved, benevok^nt, and truly eliaritabh^ order." 

\\liereu])on the worthy patriarch arose; ajid put on a 
hat mad(; of brown i)aper, imposin<.^ lookiii^- in the *^]oom 
of tlie loom and the frig-ht of th<; candidate, and in w short 
address inform(;d tlic; (candidate; that th<' origin of tin; 
order was lost in the; mist of anticjuity. Tlini it embi;i,ced 
j)eoi)le of all nations — ^o vvlK-n; lie would, he would liud 
meml)ers who would welcome him with clKiritnble hearts 
and hands to m.11 so(;ial j>rivile^<!S. 'J^hai he would b(! 
taken care of in sickness, ;ind if h<? dix^d Ik; would be 
Ijuried at the expense; of the ord(!r. That the society 
was far sujjerior to oth<;]- s«!c;ret so(;i(;ties which mad*; 
<4reat<'r pretentions — that it was ohhvr, wid(!j' spn^ad and 
particularly that it (excelled them in the hwX tliat its 
benefits were; extended without i<(juirijj;j of the members 
any fees or (thar<4-(;s — that it conh'ircd its h(!nefits with 
out money and without price. How it did this was 
a mystery that he could not then learn, hut that lie]-e 
after, as he advanced to the joyal arch dej/jee, he 
would know more. That secrecy was essential to the 
existence^ and Wf;lfaj-e of the soci<'ty, and the membf;rs 
were all bound by a solemn oath, whi(;li would now be 
administered to him by the <.'rand wf^rthy scrilx'. 

He was then sworn by the u[)lifte<l hand, "In the 



124 llendniscenceH and Sketches. 

presence of the Great Creator of the universe, from whose 
all-seeing eye nothing can be hid, you do solemnly 
pronounce and declare that you will faitlifully keep the 
secrets of the ancient and veneral)le order of the Ec- 
clampsis Vitis, and you do solemnly agi^ee that if you 
violate this oath, your heart may be cut from your living- 
body and be burned, palpitating, before your eyes, and 
your body l)e disembowled, and (piartered, and burned, 
and the ashes thrown to the four winds of heaven," etc. 

The oath being taken, the candidate was again brought 
before the grand worthy, who said to him, "I will now 
initiate you into the signs of the order. Wherever you 
go the broad world around, you Avill be recognized by 
these signs by the brethren of the order, and he welcomed 
with joy. Place your chin in your hand, in this way, in- 
serting the end of your chin between your thumb and 
forefinger and extending the hand held level in front of 
the chin." Wien the candidate had done this, he pro- 
ceeded, "Now wave your hand up gracefully in this way 
three times, thus " (showing him, and the candidate doing 
it). "That," ]n-oceeded the grand worthy, "is to keep 
the oats from falling out." 

This was the first intimation of the burlesque except 
the paper cap, but, in the novelty of the situation and the 
grave and solemn-looking surroundings and in the dim 
light, the candidate would fail to notice the intimation of 
the oats, as he had previously failed to notic^e the tallow 
dip and the paper cap. The G. W. P. would then pro- 
ceed: "I will now teach you the grand hailing sign. Put 
your hands in this waj^ as I do." He would then put an 
extended hand on each side of his head, with his thumbs 
against liis temples and tlie fingers u}>wmi'(I like a nude's 



llic Order of EcclcDnpsis I'ifis. 125 



ears, and required the candidate to do the same. "Now 
move them backward and forward three times, thus." 
Further addressing- the candidate, "You will now repeat 
after me these words: When ^repeat, sir! Wlien— 
shall — we — three — meet — ag-ain I " This 1 )eing- done, 
raising- his hand solemnly, the grand Avorthy would 
cry with a loud voice, "Even now," and would unroll 
in front of the new brother a large picture of two 
nuiles, which he was left to look upon, and the initiation 
was over, amid the uproarious shouts of laughter of the 
assembled throng, who up to this time had been as mute 
as mice. Some would stand dazed, some got mad ; but 
in a few minutes all would g'et over it and be ready to 
enjoy the fun of initiating- some])ody else. 

Well, we had a torch-light procession all over town and 
a speech. Jacques W. Johnson, a young- lawyer, delivered 
an oration on the order in the court house. Judge Black 
was there to liear it, and old Mr. Russell and all the 
beauty and the chivalry of the Adllage. Johnson's oration 
A\as in manuscript, and Judge Black borrowed it and 
read it through with a great deal of pleasure, he said. 
He couldn't understand, however, how the s(K-iety existed 
without levying- contributions on its members ; he couldn't 
possibly see or comprehend where the funds came from. 
But that was a mystery only to be learned by initiation 
into the royal arch degTee, and tlu^ judge did not se^ni 
willing to go that far. 

John Ottinger and Ben CronnNell were made i)ast 
grand worthies because of their ability to sit and look 
wise with grave faces. Nothing would stir the facial 
expression of either into animation excei)t the immediate 
prospect of a drop of old rye. 



126 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



One of the laughable features of the meeting-s was to 
call upon P. G. W. Ottinger for n storj'. During the 
intervals of initiation, a brother would rise and gravely 
move that P. G. W. Ottinger now favor the lodge with 
the narration of some little incident or story from his 
extensive repertory. This being voted, in response, Ot- 
tinger told always the same story, utterly oblivious that 
he had ever told it before. It became a matter of absorb- 
ing interest to see how often he would, with no glimmer 
of recollection that he had previously told it, retell the 
story, and as long as the institution survived, some eight 
or ten weeks, Ottinger re^^eated, with a grave face, the 
same little story, and wound up with a peculiar laugh, 
which contorted his face but gave forth no sound, ex- 
cept a rumble, as if a laugh was rolling around some- 
where in the cavities of his capacious abdominal develop- 
ment. 

Cromwell rode at the head of the torch-light proces- 
sion, as chief marshal, on a gray horse. The regalia 
was a strip of muslin about two yards long and four 
inches wide, wiiich passed over the right shoulder and 
was fastened in a knot at the waist on the left side, orna- 
mented -vxith a star cut out of the heavy purple colored 
paper that loaf sugar used to come in For the officers 
the muslin was blue. The torches were balls of candle 
wick soaked in turpentine and fastened with wire upon 
upright sticks. The Bedfoixl band headed the pro- 
cession. 

Samuel Shuck was chairman of the committee on 
regalia, and John H. Filler of the committee on torch 
lights. 

Dr. Keyser was the first man to l)etray tlie order. He 



Tlie Order of Ecdamp.sis Vilis. 127 

had been peculiarly anxious for initiation. His name 
was pending- a g-ood while before^ he was voted in. 
Somehow we feared he mig-ht divulg-e it, and hesitated 
to trust him. His anxiety to join sprang- from an idea 
that the order was g"oing- to be a great power socially and 
politically — just the thing- for a rising young- doctor to 
belong- to. 

But Keyser, when initiated, g-ot furiously mad, and 
would not be placated, and denomiced the order as a 
burlesque. We talked some of drowning him, but didn't 
do it. Our fun was done for, and the ancient and vener- 
able order of Ecclampsis Vitis passed away forever, so 
far as the villag-e of Bedford was concerned. But we had 
i\m — lots of it — while it lasted. 



EQUALITY. 



T~F equality is equity, and equity is based upon tiie 
eternal principles of truth and justice, why do some 
people live to old age and others die young-? Why do 
some enjoy good health, and others drag out a whole 
lifetime of sickness and suffering? ^^ly do some have 
strong minds and others imbecility ? Is this owing to 
the laws of nature ? Is it inherent in the constitution of 
affairs'? Or is it because of some T\T.'ong lining of om-- 
selves or out' ancestors? Some want of perception of, 
and non-conformity to, the laws of our being, which we 
ought to be able to discern and obey ? 

But all through the animal world and the vegetable 
world there are inequalities : some apples are larger and 
finer than others hanging side by side, some stalks of 
wheat, some blades of grass, some forest trees ; and horses, 
and cows, and other animals, domestic and wild, have in- 
equalities of speed, and strength, and vision, and hearing, 
and endiu'ance, and of health and duration of life. This 
morning there was a white frost, the effect upon the 
youug beans and potatoes in the garden was to kill some 



Equality. 129 

and leave others immediately {idjoiniii,i:;- uuinjured. 
Some years ago I saw a calf born blind, with no si*>n of 
eyes ; the sockets covered with tig-Jit-drawn skin and no 
eye-balls within. Everywhere we are surrounded with 
marked and unmistakable inequality in tli(3 [physical 
world; inequality that must be desio^ned, unless it all 
earner by enhance. 

But does it follow that inequality is injustice? Is it 
tru(i that equality is equity ? This is a hard question to 
answer. It is not answerable by any lio-ht w^hich we have 
here on this mundane sphere. 

Some say that it will all be made even in the next 
world, so that the final outcome will be equality. And 
they (;ite the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 
the sixteenth chapter and twenty -fifth verse), " But Abra- 
ham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime re- 
ceivedst thy g-ood thing-s, and likewise Lazarus evil 
thing-s: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." 

This theory assumes that there must be evil thiug-s 
here in this world. And moreover, where would the 
compensation come to animals, who have no hereafter ? 

It is beyond human ken. It g-oes with the other 
mysteries with which life is environed. 



ENJOYABLE EGOTISM. 



A GOOD deal of vanity lies at the foundation of every 
man's make-up. A certain amount of self-esteem 
is necessary to success in life ; it gives a pro]3er self-asser- 
tion, and makes a man stand forward and push himself 
to the front ; and a character lacking it entirely would be 
seriously defective. Nevertheless, obtrusive vanity and 
self-assertion are generally very offensive. But occasion- 
ally you encounter a man whose all-absorbing vanity and 
demonstrative self-complacency are not at all unpleasant. 
They are so marked as to be amusing. It does him so 
much good to brag about himself and his possessions, 
his claims are so outrageously extravagant and absurd, 
and they do you no possible harm, and you are rather 
pleased to give him delight by listening to his transx3ar- 
ent egotism and intense self-satisfaction. He is such 
a complacent self-deceiver in his laudation of himself 
and of everything connected with him, that it is a sort of 
luxury to listen to him. His plain wife and unattractive 
children are to his mind perfection, and he tells you so. 
His house, his pictures, his carriage, his horses, are 
the best in the world, as he thinks and tells you. 

(130) 



Enjoyable Egotism. 131 

He repeats it again and again, unendingly, on every 
occasion, and you listen to it with a slight feeling of 
amusement and half admiration at the man's enormous 
ability in self -adulation, and his immense capacity at 
self-deception and braggadocia. In anybody else it would 
be lying. Incredible as it is, he believes it all — you can 
see and feel that he does — and he mentions it not offen- 
sively but in a spirit of apparent joyousness and thank- 
fulness to Heaven that he has been so abundantly blessed 
above his fellows. The very magnitude of his egotism 
and vanity attract you with wonder, and admiration that 
he can build so large a structure upon so slight a founda- 
tion. It is an achievement impossible of attainment for 
any ordinarily constituted mortal. He is a phenomenon 
of egotism! 

He takes you into his parlor to show you a picture of 
autumn foliage — a lake surrounded by woods, with a dis- 
tant hill in the backgi'ound and a thin column of smoke 
arising from some forester's fire. And he tells you how 
in traveling he encountered the artist and discovered his 
remarkable talent, and bought the painting at an exceed- 
ingly low figure — the finest painter of autumnal tints in 
America ! Sui'e to attain fame ! Extraordinary discern- 
ment on his part ! So far as j^ou can see it is a common- 
jilace effort of no value. 

He walks you to his stable to show you his horses — 
wonderful promise of speed ! Extraordinary sagacity in 
him to discover it ! Did it all himself — unaided ! Mar- 
velous success in getting them at such a price ! To your 
eye they are farm cobs defective in form, devoid of style, 
and of ordinary movement. 

And so he takes you from one thing to another and 



132 Ii:-)}i)nisce7ices atid Sh'frJw.-.. 



shows you with continual brag- and extreme delight all 
his possessions, all extraordinary, the very best, none like 
them elsewhere. You cannot find it in your heart to 
contradict him or dissent. It would be cruel to mar so 
much harmless pleasure. 

Fish and hunt? Yes, uncommon success! Beats 
the whole neig-hborhood ! Nobody can come near him 1 
Nobody has such guns, or dogs, or rods, or fishing- tackle, 
or such luck ! 

Succeeds in business ? Yes, wonderfully ! Best farms, 
and houses, and business, and speculations — marvelous 
success ! 

Transparent egotism and vanity, and brag- all day and 
every day whenever you meet him. And yet it gives you 
no offense— is pleasant, rather. 



UNTRUTHFULNESS OF HISTORY. 



^TTHEN }i boy I j«aid a visit at the house of Doctor 
Joseph Henderson, of Mifflin county, whose wife, 
Jane Maclay, was a relative of my father. He was a man 
of larg-e information and experience, and a most enter- 
taining companion, taking great delight in imparting in- 
formation and instruction. A skilled botanist, he ex- 
plained, as we walked through the woods, the sexes of 
plants and many other curious things in nature, and he 
talked of American history, which I was studying at 
school. He had been a surgeon in the war of 1812 : "the 
last war,'" as it was then called in contradistinction to the 
"revolutionary war.' Wliat a little affair it was as com- 
]iared with the war since ! I narrated, as I had learned 
it in my school history, the affair of some fort on the 
Canada frontier, which was boasted of as cjuitci an (exhi- 
bition of American courage and gallantry, in which our 
forces had defeated an attempt to capture the fort, by 
a much larger British force. He said it was a petty af- 
fair, in wliich, jtfter a slight resistance, the Americans 
were in full retreat, and the British had entered the works, 

when an unex])ected (explosion occurred from a liot slint 

(IS?.) 



134 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



fired by the British themselves, which had burned its way 
into the magazine. A large number of the British were 
blown up, and the Americans rallied and reentered the 
fort, and it was chronicled as a great American victory. 

Great praise was given in the school history to General 
Israel Putnam, and I named him as my ideal of an Amer- 
ican hero, next after Washington. There was the killing 
of the wolf and the riding down the stone steps at Horse- 
neck, both of which were illustrated with pictures in the 
history. The Doctor quite disconcerted my patriotic ad- 
miration, and with the rude hand of an iconoclast knocked 
my old general into common-place obscurity. He was 
let down by a rope into the cave by his neighbors and 
fired at the gleaming eyes of the animal and was then 
dra^vn up. It might have been worth mentioning if he 
had gone there alone and without the rope. The whole 
affair was a piece of Yankee caution, near akin to coward- 
ice. He said he knew a hunter in Elk county, a wild, 
thinly-inhabited region in that day, who discovered a 
wolf's den with pups in it, and wishing to take them alive 
denuded himself of his pantaloons, tied up the ends and 
made an extemporized bag in which, bare-legged, he was 
carrying off the whelps on his shoulders, when the old 
wolf appeared and rushed upon him in open-mouthed 
fiu'y. He shot her and successfully carried off her young, 
a much braver and more memorable act, as the Doctor 
thought. As to the ride- down the stone steps, anybody 
might have done that. It all depended on the horse. In 
truth he said, the* most of history was exaggeration ; ex- 
aggerated laudation or defamation, according to the 
nationality or religious bias of the naiTator. 



THE NECESSITY FOR GOOD NATURE 
ON SHIPBOARD. 



TTTHEN pent up in a steamship for a voyage across 
the Atlantic you realize the necessity of amiabil- 
it}^ One cross, ill-g-rained person can radiate all around 
him a disag-reeable, chilling atmosphere, and make him- 
self miserable and every one else who comes in contact 
^dtli him. But a pleasant, genial man, who tells his best 
stories and jokes, and laughs heartily at those given in 
return is like a beam of sunshine, and is a desirable trav- 
eling companion. Even the dullest fellow realizes the 
necessities of the occasion, and strives to make the ten 
days of enforced companionship among those who, by 
chancer are thrown temporarily together, pass agi*ee- 
ably. You cultivate your power to please and b(^ pleased, 
and it is really wonderful how much success attends the 
effort. You are ready at all times to swap jokes, and 
memory sends out her scouts all along the past of your 
life to hunt up littk^ incidents and narrations that will 
supply your stock in trade. 

Talking of this featur(? of a sea voyage lately brought 
(135) 



136 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

out this responsive story. A young man was starting on 
the trip to Europe, which is now so easily made, and 
which so many Americans aninially indulge in. To each 
one who makes it, however, it is an important event. And 
the father, wishing to impart from the stores of experi- 
ence ad\ice that would be useful to his son, said : " My 
son the world is a looking-glass. If you smile on it, it 
mil smile pleasantly at you : if you frown, it will inevita- 
bly return a scowl. You are the maker to a great extent 
of your own pleasure. If you strive to be pleasant and 
agreeable to people you encounter they wiU meet you 
half-way, and your life will be cheerful and happy. You 
can always find something good in your surroundings, 
something to admire and speak well of. I entreat you to 
be pleased : never find fault : cultivate a disposition to be 
satisfied, and to make the best of everything, and give 
expression on all occasions to your admiration, because 
the oral expression of a feeling gives intensity to it." 

Duly impressed with this piece of paternal wisdom, 
the youthful traveler started on his journey with a resolve 
that no matter what betided he would never find fault or 
express dissatisfaction, but on the contrary would exert 
himself to see good in everything and be la\dsli in his 
jiraises. He succeeded admirably. Never was a young 
fellow so popular. Everybody liked him wherever he 
went, and he added immensely to his own enjoyment. 
Finally he came to a hotel at the Lakes of Killarney. 
Seated at the table, he looked around, as was his wont, 
for something to admire so that he might make a pleas- 
ant speech to the landlord. He was a truthful young 
man, however, and felt that the expression of his admira- 
tion must be found(Ml on fact. He did not Avish to in- 



Necessity for Good Nature on Shipboard. 137 

dulg-e in an entire fabrication, and yet tlie character of 
the entertainment and the make-up of the table drove him 
to his wit's end. And thus it resulted. Looking over the 
table he said, " Landlord, I like this hotel, I am charmed 
and delighted, you have such good salt here." 



DID YOU SEE ANY WHALES? 



TT is wonderful how the traveler in distant lands feels 
drawn to anything- that reminds him of home. Meet- 
ing- a citizen of his own town or county, or state even, 
with whom he had no previous acquaintance or inter- 
course, he is attracted as if he were an intimate friend. 
The newspaper of his village, how interesting- the dull 
sheet has become ! At home he hardly g-lances at it. 
And so a letter from home, how it is longed for ! I re- 
member with what desire and interest I looked for the 
first letter from Bedford when I was in Paris. I had been 
going from place to place and no letter had reached me, 
until I was quite sick to hear of the dear ones at home, 
grown doubly dear by absence. Finally I was handed 
one bearing- the postmark of the ancient village, which I 
opened with trembling haste. No i^earl of great price 
nor sparkling diamond could have been seized with more 
avidity, or would have been half as welcome. It proved 
to be from my eight-year-old son, whose developing mind 
was just then intensely occupied with the wonders of 
natural history. Spelled out in letters made like print- 
ing, this was its entire contents : 

Bedford, Pa., June 1st, 1875, 
" Dear Pa : Did you see any whales ? 

" Your affectionate son, 

"George." 

(138) 



SOLOMON'S WISDOM. 



XN 1850 Isaac Kensinger was deputy surveyor of Bed- 
ford county. He resided in Liberty township, and 
did not attend at his office in the county seat except dur- 
ing- coui't weeks. The official papers of the office, con- 
sisting of land warrants and di'afts of returns of surveys, 
were in a locked case, and the key, to which everj^body 
had access and over which nobody had special care or 
control, was left at the prothonotary's office. It occurred 
to me that if I were given charge of the office and the 
key, as a sort of assistant to Mr. Kensinger, it would 
enable me to get surveying to do, particularly in the 
southern part of the county, from which Mr. Kensinger's 
residence was distant many miles. Acting on this idea, 
through General Bowman, the acknowledged head and 
leader of the Jeffersoniaii Democracy of the county, Mr. 
Kensinger was induced to make the desired aiTangement, 
and I was installed ;is liis deputy, with authority to do 
surveying under him, which fact was duly announced to 
the public by an advertisement in the Bedford Go,zefte, 
Surveying was in my case a good stepping-stone to the 

practice of the law. Much of the litigation at that time 

(139) 



140 Bemiuiscoiccs and Skefdies. 

was about land. A knowledg-e of practical surveying- was 
a useful adjunct to a youn^?- lawyer. It \^\\i me into closer 
contact with the people in their homes, and made me 
acquainted with the roads and topog-raph}^ of the county, 
and was a healthful and invigorating exercise, which 
tended to muscular development in a frame somewhat 
enfeebled by sedentary habits. For several years I pur- 
sued this avocation in the spring and fall, and made 
extended trips, covering two or three weeks of time, often 
g-oing on foot from one locality to another. 

One Sunday morning in May, 1851, found me in the 
head of Bean's Cove. It was a beautiful, brig-ht day, calm 
and genial with sunshine. The apple trees were ladened 
with frag-rant blossoms, through which the bees were 
humming, and the mountain sides were covered with a 
fresh coat of emerald green, dotted here and there with 
the white bloom of the dogwood and service-berry. There 
was no church near, and I concluded to walk over the 
mountain into Black Valley, toward the neighborhood in 
which I was to work the next day, and visit old Michael 
Mills, whose acquaintance I had made and for whom I 
had become concerned, in connection with an older lawyer, 
in a law-suit of some importance. When I arrived at 
Mr. Mills' habitation, the door stood <^pen. No dog"'s 
bark nor other sound broke the solemn Sabbath stillness, 
and no li\ing being was in sight. I opened the yard 
g-ate and stepped into the house. AVith his back toward 
me, without a coat, in his clean white shirt-sleeves, with 
a shining bald head fringed with a circle of neatly-brushed 
liair, wearing spectacles with brazen frame encircling- 
glasses as large as a dollar, tied with a string that came 
acioss th(^ back of liis liead ])etween th(^ ears, sat tlie old 



SoJotNoiLs Wisdorti. 141 

man, with a laixe family Bible, oruamtiiited with hrazeu 
clasps, resting- wide open on his knees, from which he 
was reading- aloud to himself. So intent was he, and 
absorbed, that 1h^ heard not the sound of my approach- 
ing- footfall. 

I stopped and looked, and was struck with admiration 
for the man and the scene : a peaceful Sabbath morning-, 
with all nature beautiful — g-enial sunshine, balmy air, f ra- 
g-rant blossoms, and a venerable old man sitting- in a 
comfortable arm-chair in the midst of his quiet rural 
home, intentl}^ reading- in the big family Bible that his 
ancestor broug-ht across the ocean years before, and so 
absorbed in his pious meditations that the noise of my 
approach had not attracted his attention nor aroused him 
from his devotions. Ah ! I thoug-ht, what a lovely sig-ht ! 
How g-lad I am I came ! It is equal to a sermon— a liv- 
ing-, eloquent sermon — in the presence of which the formal 
platitudes of ordinary preaching- dwindle into insig-nifi- 
cance. How fortunate I am that there was no church 
open in Bean's Cove, and that I came over the mountains 
and was permitted to witness this speakings sermon and 
this lovely scene? All! the country is the place to live! 
Contact with nature is the thing-! A quiet life, a peace- 
ful, happy old age, rural piety, his own prophet, priest, 
and king-! Venerable ^ man ! how I admire you and envy 
your lot ! 

This revery ovt^r, I advanced and saluted the object of 
my reverence and admiration, who laid his specs in the 
Bible, closed it with a bang-, and arose with a startled 
look, and when he recognized me and g-ot over his sur- 
prise, welcomed m(^ to the hospitalities of his habitation 
and said: "I am very g-lad, indeed, to s<^e you. T have 



142 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



been reading here in the Book of Kings about Solomon, 
and am greatly puzzled, and would like to know what you 
think of it. They say he was a wise man — the very wisest 
that ever lived. Since 1 was a little boy I have been told 
that Solomon was a wise man — noted above all men for 
his wisdom. Now I am sixty -eight years of age, and have 
observed a good deal of human nature in my time, and I 
tell you if this is true that I have been reading here about 
him, he is the grandest old fool that ever wrote wisdom 
for other people to practice." "What's wrong," I said; 
"what's Avi'ong, my old friend? What have you been 
reading? AVhat did Solomon do that was so far from 
wise?" "Why," he replied, "it says here in the eleventh 
chapter of the Book of Kings, that Solomon had seven 
hundred Tvdves and three hundred concubines' Wliat 
under the sun would a man do with them? For my part, 
I don't believe a word of it.' 



JUDICIAL ROBES. 



T ATELY the judges of the Supreme Court of Penn- 
sylvania appeared upon the bencli in judicial robes 
of heavy silk. The only other courts in the United States 
in which the judg-es wear gowns are the Supreme Court 
of the United States at Washington city and the Court 
of Appeals of the State of New York. 

For many years past no judges in Pennsjdvania have 
worn gowns. AMiat is the meaning of the change ? Is 
it a step backward ? Is it a matter of importance, or is 
it a mere matter of taste in costume in the individual 
judges and of indifference to the public ? Does the gown 
add to the dignity and impressiveness^ of the judge? Is 
it a useful adjunct in the administration of distributive 
justice? And if it adds to the dignity and importance 
of the judges of the higher court, would it not be ser- 
^dceable to the court of common pleas as well, and ought 
it not to be generally introduced into all the courts 1 
These are questions which seem to be naturally suggested 
by this innovation. 

More than thirty years ago I was in St. Louis visiting 
a friend residing there, and as we were walking one day 

(143) 



144 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



he asked me to step iuto the court-house with him while 
he made proof of an account ag'ainst a decedent's estate 
before the public administrator. They have there a dif- 
ferent system of settling- a dead man's estate from ours 
in Pennsylvania. The public administrator opens an ac- 
count with each estate as soon as he g-rants letters testa- 
mentarj^ or of administration, and all creditors call there 
and present and swear to their accounts. In an ordinary- 
looking- room, behind a small structure that was a sort of 
judicial bench, sat ii man no\\-ise remarkable in costume 
or countenance, before whom ^ my friend advanced and 
presented his paper. No other person was in the room. 
My friend had removed his hat at the door as he entered. 
I remained near the door, slig-htly within the room, with 
my hat on, when I heard uttered, in a deep, slow voice of 
thundering- tone, these words : " Take off your hat, sir, in 
the presence of the court." With a g-lanc(^ at the frown- 
ing- countenance of His Honor, I uncovered wdth startled 
alacrity. The judg-e, named Ferg-uson, orig-inally a me- 
chanic or small merchant, had been appointed or elected 
to the bench of the orphans' court, and made a most ex- 
cellent officer, commanding- the respect and confidence of 
the community by reason of his integrity, faithfulness 
and industrious and intelligent discharg-e of the duties of 
his position, but with the manifest weakness of being- pro- 
foundly impressed with his own personal importance and 
dig-nit}^ as an incumbent of the magisterial office, and 
with the determination to let no man with whom he came 
in contact overlook it, or fail to recog-nize the fact that he 
was in the augnst presence of a judg-e. Robes of ofiice 
and a train attendant would have suited this man wonder- 
full v well. 



Judicial Robes. 14{ 



A few weeks afterward, in traveling- up the valley of the 
Missouri, I arrived at Fayette, the county seat of How- 
ard county. It was court week, and the place was full of 
people deeijly interested in a trial that was in progi'ess in 
the court-house, in which a farmer was aiTaigned for mur- 
der in the first deg-ree. It was charg-ed that with deliberate 
premeditation he shot and killed his neighbor, with whom 
he had not been on g-ood terms. From a place of con- 
cealment, behind a tree in an adjoining forest, with noop- 
portunit}^ for resistance or escape, while he was pursuing- 
his peaceful avocation as a plowman, unsuspicious of 
harm, in his own field, in sig-ht of his home, where his 
wife was attending- to her household duties and his little 
children were at play, he had been killed by a bullet that 
penetrated his brain and summoned him into eternity 
without a moment's warning-. 

The whole community was intent on this trial. Noth- 
ing- else was talked of. The court-house was throng-ed 
at every session of the court. In an ordinary chair, upon 
a slig-htly-raised plain and small structure, which answered 
for a bench, with no associate judg-es, without a gown or 
other insig-nia of office, sat the judg-e, presiding- \\'ith 
placid seriousness of countenance and quiet dig-nity of 
demeanor over a trial in which John S. Kollins, afterward 
a member of cong-ress, and John B. Henderson, afterward 
a United States Senator from Missouri, were the attor- 
neys for the defendant, and a young- man whose name I 
cannot exactly recall, afterward a state senator, prose- 
cuted the plea for the commonwealth. 

The case was one of circumstantial evidence alone. No 

mortal eye had witnessed the si looting. A motive \\'as 

clearly proven — deadlv animosity .-uid ;i previous threat — 
10 



14() lit- /Hint see lives and Sketches. 

some tracks leading toward the tree from behind which 
the o'un had evidently been discharg-ed, and the flattened 
bullet from the dead man's brain, which coiTesponded in 
weig-lit with the bullets found in the defendant's bullet- 
pouch, with just such slight amoimt of diminution as 
would probably be caused by the abrasion in the rifle- 
barrel and by crashing through the skull of the deceased. 

A small pair of delicately-adjusted scales, such as are 
used by druggists in w^eighing medicines, was produced, 
and the commonwealth asked that the jury might be per- 
mitted to take out the defendant's rifle and the bullets 
found in his bullet-pouch, and the flattened bullet, and the 
scales, into the jury -room, and there make the comparison 
and weigh for themselves. To this the defendant's coun- 
sel objected on the ground that the weighing had been 
done in their presence in open court by an expert, Avho 
had testified as to the result thereof, and that it was not 
competent to allow the request. This was fully discussed 
pro and con, and the authorities cited, and the request re- 
fused by the court. Divers other points of evidence and 
law were raised and discussed. 

There was no want of dignity or decorum. Rough men 
made way for the judge with the profoundest manifesta- 
tions of respect as he passed in and out at the diflerent 
sessions of the court, and the utmost quiet prevailed while 
the witnesses gave in their testimony, and the judge an- 
swered the points or praj^ers for instruction, and the law- 
yers addressed the jury. There was no need for a gown. 
In fact, it would have been ludicrously out of place. Thei'e 
was no necessity for announcing in a voice of thundei", 
"Take off your hat in the presence of the court." The 
solemnity of the occasion, the shocking death, the im- 



Judicial Roh'S. 147 



periled life of the a(.;cused, the earnestness and al)ility of 
the advocates, and the gravity and manifest intellectual 
calmness and dignity of the judge made a gown mere 
useless toggery, which would liave belittled the judge 
and the occasion. Each earnest, intent-eyed listener was 
a conservator of order. 

In olden times, at Chambersburg, when Hamilton was 
judge, the sheriff, with a drawn sword, followed l)y the 
tipstaves, with long poles, escorted the enrobed judge 
from the hotel to the court-house, to and fi'o. Tradition 
lias it that the same custom prevailed in other parts of 
the state. At Harrisbm'g, as I learn from Hamilton 
Alricks, Esq., who was born in 1806 and admitted to the 
bar in 1828, the judges wore no gowns within his recol- 
lection, which extends back to 1816, l)ut before that time, 
probably dowai to the year 1810, as he learned from his 
predecessors at the bar, both the president judge and the 
judge of the Supreme Court sitting at Circuit, enrobed 
themselves at the hotel where they lived, which was 
situated on the bank of the river, near the bridge, and 
niarched in a procession, composed of the sherili', the 
tipstaves and the lawyers, from the hotel to the court- 
house, and so back and forth at each session of the court. 
At Bedford and Huntingdon the judge was escorted by 
the tipstaves with the poles, but was not adoiiied with 
the robe, so far as I can learn, and dispensed with the 
sheriff and the drawn sword. Somehow the robes and 
even the parade with tix)staves did not comport with 
republican institutions, and they long since fell into 
disuse. 

Wliat possible chance would a judge have in such a 
pro(-ession if some irreverent stn^et urchin, as it threaded 



148 Bernini see nces (okI Sketches. 

its way throug-h the crowd, would suggest that he had 
dropped his bustle! 

A real judge, who has dignity of character and conduct, 
whose knowledge of the law and manifest integrity of 
intention are known and read of all men, needs no robe. 
He has authority behind him — the majesty of the com- 
monwealth which he represents. He has the reverence 
of law which an intelligent people entertain. Vestments 
may be necessary to impress ignorance. They are of no 
use in a contact with intelligence. They do not dignify 
want of legal learning, or g-ive strength to weakness, or 
integrity to a political schemer. 

In a profound respect for law and the administration 
of justice, the American people are excelled by no 
nationality, ancient or modern. The basis of it is not 
form or ceremony, not robes or wigs. It is an intelligent 
knowledge of the constitution of the g-overnment, and an 
appreciation of the necessity of respect for the adminis- 
trators of distributive justice in order to the well-being 
of the community, which every good citizen has at heart. 

Do robes add to the force or strength of the pulpit 
orator? You cannot transmute dullness into discern- 
ment, ignorance into knowledge, attenuated di-ivel into 
logic, or a nerveless grasp into administrative talent by 
encasing the man with a silk gown. 

Next after Almig^hty God, the American people rever- 
ence law. It commands their respect, not through fear, 
nor through forms or ceremonies, not on the basis of 
(rmne igiioium pro nobile, but because of an intelligent 
understanding of the principles of government and the 
recog'nized necessity for a profound respect for constituted 
authority. They themselves lielp to make the law, and 



Ju'licial Uohes. 149 

are a part of the sovereig-n power of which the judo-e is 
the representative. It is pubHc opinion, not outward 
show, that g"ives majesty to the jndg'e. It is the office, 
not tlie man, that is reverenced. Tlie incumbent is re- 
spected because he fills the office worthily. No mere 
external sig-n is needed to inspire respect. An earnest, 
honest and ])roj:>er discharg-e of the duties of the position 
insures it. You belittle real g-reatness when you dress it 
in tog-g-ery, and you fail to elevate incompetency by 
clothing- it in a g-own. 

Everywhere throug'h Eiu'ope are forms, and ceremonies, 
and official costumes, and insig-nia — the effete remains of 
feudal times — more or less difficult to gfet rid of, doubt- 
less, in an old and artificially-constituted society. Noth- 
ing- can be more mibecoming- and uncomfortable-looking- 
than a horse-hair wig, such as are worn by the Eng-lish 
barristers. To see a man in the midst of an arg-ument 
lift the unsig-htly thing: from his over-heated head with 
one hand, while he runs the other throug-h his natural 
hair to g-ive his pate air and relief, is amusing- to an 
American eye. It strikes one as absurdly ludicrous. 

Some years ag-o I heard Dean Stanley preach in West- 
minster Abbey. A verg-er, clad in a long- blue g-arment, 
carrying- a small rod ornamented with silver, followed by 
another man similarly dressed, bearing two small books 

presumably a Bible and prayer-book — behind whom 
walked the dean in a velvet skull-cap, with some clerical 
vestments on, made to my vision a procession neither 
awe-inspiring nor conducive to a devout frame of mind. 
With solemn visages they entered, I hardly saw from 
where, and moved forward toward a little box of a pulpit. 
The rod-bearer ascended the pulpit steps, unbolted and 



150 lie HI in I seances and Sketches. 



Oldened tlie little door and descended. ' The dean then 
ascended and seated himself. The book-bearer then 
placed the books upon the desk before the dean, and 
clostxl and fastened the door. 

Something- may be said, doubtless, in favor of uniforms 
to designate officials. When the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company put uniforms on its (conductors and brakemen, 
many persons thoug-ht it was a piece of snobbery. And 
yet it has proved to b(^ useful and a public convenience. 
But what can be said in favor of .g-owns for Su^jreme 
Court judg-es/ They need no uniforms to desig*nate 
them. The persons who see them are the lawyers who 
know them. They are not there to l)t^ looked at. It is 
true a gown makes a small man look big-g-er. It migflit 
be serviceable to g-ive the appearance of size to a diminu" 
tive judg-e: but if he has a big- head and a big* mind, and 
is big" in g-ood sense and leg-al knowledg"e, what odds 
about the size of his body I 

Wliat effect has the wearing* of the g-owii upon the 
judg-e himself ? Does it tend to puff him up and make 
him think more hig-hly of himself than he ought to think 1 
It won't add to his real knowledge of the law. Will it 
tend to make him think he knows more than he really 
does ! AVill it minister to a desire for ostentation ? Will 
gowns add to the comfort of the judges? Is it because 
of the loose and easy fit of the garment that it has been 
adopted? If this is the ground, no one can object to it. 
But if it is with a desire to give dignity to the bench and 
impress the public by ostentatious displa}^ it is a mis- 
take and a stc^p ba(;kward. It does not harmonize well 
with republican institutions and will fail of its object. 
The true dignity of the bench springs from the reverence 



Judici<fl liolx'-^- 

7^, 1 . for Uw and the inteUigent appreciation of 

,, the peopW ^- -' - ^^ ^^^^ ,, ,,p,ess them 

the character ot the jua^es. ^ i /i .^,i ;. a 

;Lu,h thei. eyes is loweriu. the standavd and . 
retrogressiou toward the effete past. 



A TRIP TO GETTYSBURG. 



~[ TAD the whole State of Pennsylvania been searched 
for a battle-field it is probable no place could have 
been found better suited for a contest between larg-e op- 
posing- armies than the vicinage of Gettysbui-g-, nor any 
upon which the positions and movements of the different 
regiments, divisions and corps could be as well desig- 
nated and indicated to a visitor desirous of studying a 
battle. 

An incorporated company kno^\ai as " The Battle-Field 
Association " has charge of the matter. Three hundred 
monuments, many of them quite elaborate and beautiful, 
have been erected to indicate the positions of the forces 
on the different days of the fig-ht, and roads have been 
laid out and opened by which visitors can drive over the 
field. Cemetery Hill and the tuiTet on the theological 
seminary give high points from Avhich a bird's-eye view 
can be had of the suiTOunding country, and the monu- 
ments mark the lines of the three-days' battling and en- 
able the g-uides to point out and explain the military 
movements so as to be readily intelligible. Nowhere else 

(152) 



./ Trip to (h'ityshiinj. 153 

in the world is a battle-Held monumentally marked to 
such an extent. 

That which seemed twenty -five years agfo to be a great 
affliction and detriment to the citizens of Gettysburg- and 
the vicinity has x^roved in the long' run a benefit. It has 
made an obscure country town take a prominent place in 
history, and a constantly-increasing- throng of visitors 
gives business to railroads, hotels and hackmen. Gettys- 
burg must be a noted place as long as the history of our 
country endures. 

I know of no railroad ride more interesting than that 
taken by Bishop Benedict and myself in the bright Octo- 
ber weather of a few weeks since. Leaving Bedford at 10 
A. M. we went down the Juniata to where it pours its tribute 
into the wide bosom of the Susquehanna at Duncan's 
Island. All along the fertile valley was fringed by mount- 
ains gorgeous with autumn foliage. A more beautiful 
stream than the Susquehanna from Duncannon to Hams- 
burg would be difficult to find. It is a vision giving 
pleasure as the train sweeps along the great railroad 
curves on the river's bank and passes over the mile long 
railroad bridge at Ilock\dlle. And the Cumberland Val- 
ley, mtli its broad farms and excellent crops of corn and 
clover, and fine houst^s and barns, and its distant line of 
mountains on either side — do the blue heavinis anyw^here 
overarch a more lovely scene t AVlien tlu^ rebels invaded 
Pennsylvania in 1863, the rank and file from the extreme 
south, where they have no barns, mistook the fine barns 
of the Cumberland Valley for churches. k\\<\ then you 
pass from Carlisle through the gap of the South Mount- 
ain and across the fertile plains of Adams county to a 
supper at the Eagle Hotel just long enough delayed be- 



154 ReminisGences and Sketches. 



yoiid the usual time to sharpen the appetite into a just 
appreciation of well-cooked food. 

From Gettysburg" we traveled home over the noted 
Tape-Worm railroad. It has been lately finished by the 
Western Maryhmd railroad, and incorporated with it as 
a part of its line. It is a most charming- railroad ride, 
with transcendently beautiful vistas and outlooks; nor 
does it strike one now as being- more full of curves than 
many anothei- mountain railroad. Fifty years ago the 
Bedford Gazette and other Democratic papers were orna- 
mented with a wood-cut exhibiting- a Avonderfully tortuous 
line which they calhnl "Thad. Stevens' Tape-AVorm Rail- 
road." The slow -marching- multitude have at last reached 
the position of the advanced thinker. 

From Pen-Mar park, on the Blue Mountain, all of 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and part of Washing-ton 
county, Maryland, lie stretched before you like a map. 
Such a view is "worth a voyage across the Atlantic," as 
Jefferson said of Harper's Ferry. Pen-Mar is named from 
the first syllables of the two states. It is on tlie line 
which divides them. You see below you thousands of 
acres of peach trees. It has within the last ten years 
been discovered that the slate foot-hills of the west side 
of the South Mountain are peculiarly adapted for the cul- 
ture of peaches. The business has proved very profit- 
able, and many people are embarking- in it. Land that 
was worth but ionr or five dollars an acre a few years ago 
now finds ready sale at ten times that pric^e. 

"Bisho}) Benedict, of Bedford," sounds well. The al- 
littn-ation is pleasing- to the ear. The three B's make a 
much hai)pi(H' combination than Burchard's three B's, 
that g-ave Mr. Blaine so mucli trouble. At Gettysburg- he 



A Trip to Gettysburg. 155 



was introduced by this euphonious tith^ to Ji youn^- l.iw- 
yer who has made his advent in that ancient boroug'h long- 
since the Bishop, then a student, phinted the trees along- 
the path in the campus of the college, which has ever 
since been known by the classic appellation of " vi(i Ben- 
edlcta.'' "Of what is he bishop?" inquired the lawyer. 
"Of the Lutheran church of the whole United Sbites," was 
the reply, " by virtue of the parity of the clergy, by which 
one preacher is as g-ood as another, and probably better." 

Pennsylvania Colleg-e and the Theological Seminary of 
the Lutheran Church are located at Gettysburg-. These 
are venerable institutions over sixt}^ years of ag-e. A larg-e 
additional college building has lately been erected, con- 
taining admiral)ly -arranged recitation rooms, libraries 
and rooms for the literary societies, and a new chapel, 
called the Brua Memorial Hall, for church services and 
graduation exercises, and the old Ijuilding has been al- 
tered and refitted so as to give a largely -increased number 
of rooms for dormitories, and the whole of these build- 
ings, including also the residences of the president and 
professors, are heated by steam, so that in the matter of 
grounds and buildings the college is unsurpassed in the 
state. Its location at Gettysburg gives it a national prom- 
inence, and with a (^orps of fifteen professors and instruc- 
tors and an attendance of over Uvo hundred students it 
is in a flourishing condition. 

If I could recall and relate all the theological incidents 
that the Bishop tradtnl to me, as we journeyed, in return 
for legal stories, you would have such an efl:ervescing 
compound of theology and law as would swell your sides 
with laughter. Wliat would my clerical readers do in a 
predicament like tlie following ^ Foi- many years a grave 



156 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



and reverend elder in the church, who invariably attended 
and expected to be asked to lead in praj^er, opened with 
this invocation : " Oh ! Lord, we approach Thee on this 
occasion with the confonndest reverence/' Oug-ht you to 
privately tell him of his mistake, or ought you to take no 
]iotice of it, but let the thing run on week after week, 
month after month, and year after year, with a grave face ? 
Perplexing, wasn't it? And yet clearly the right thing 
to do was what the Bishop did, namely : he took no no- 
tice of it. To have mentioned it would have wounded the 
good man's self-esteem and given him mortal offense, and 
would have done no possible good. The Great Discerner 
of the thoughts and intents of the heart knew that the 
old man meant profoundest. The lawyers have a maxim, 
mala grammatica non vifiat cartam, which means that 
bad grammar does not invalidate a Avriting ; nor does a 
slip of the tongue nullif j^ an earnest prayer. 

And what think you of this ? A young man who was 
studying for the Presbyterian ministry was invited by the 
Rev. T. K. Davis to try his prentice hand at the Wednes- 
day evening prayer-meeting. After the manner of the 
long prayer which used to be in vogue among Presby- 
terians, which embraced, in elongated detail, an elaborate 
statement of each particular blessing that was desired, 
the young man prayed, inter alia, " Oh ! Lord, we ask 
Thee to bless the heathen. May Thy people not neglect 
them ; but may they contribute liberally of the substance 
with which Thou hast blessed them, so that missionaries 
may be sent forth and the blessed gospel may be preached 
to the heathen. And we ask Thee, also, oh ! Lord, to re- 
member the pagans. Let Thy gospel shine forth to all 
the dark corners of the earth, and may the pagans as well 



A Trip to GiittyshKrij. 157 

as the heathen be brought to a knowledg-e of Thy truth." 
Comprehensive benevolence, wasn't it f Or what of this 
exposition of the text, " Preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture "? " Brethren, the word every in the orig-inal Greek 
is much more emphatic and significant than in the Eng- 
lish. It means a great deal more in the orig-inal Greek." 
Two old ladies whom threescore years and ten had 
broug'ht fully to the realization of the approaching- end 
of life were talking together of old ag-e and death and 
heaven — of the blissful future which they hoped awaited 
them in the beyond, when, with rejuvenated eyes and 
hearing-, and freed from the stiff joints and bent backs of 
time, they would enter upon the pleasures of eternity. 
One, a modest old Methodist mother, said : "Oh I Lovey, 
Lovey, I hope 111 g-et in. If I can only just g-et inside of 
the door, I'll be content." 'Oh I no," said Lovey, a Lu- 
theran, "no, no; I'll not be satisfied with that. I want 
to g-et up in front. I want to g-et near to Marty Luther " — 
never doubting- for a moment but that Heaven is a sort 
of big- church, with the Monk of Eufert in the pulpit, or 
at least in the amen corner, prominently ofiiciating- some- 
where near the front. There is something- ludicrous about 
this which excites a smile ; but the simple, child-like faith 
of those old women, is it not lovely ? Such faith is worth 
possessing-. It is a source of infinite comfort — this " com- 
fortable assurance of hope." It almost seems to border 
on irreverence to joke thus ; but after all a laug-h is a good 
thing. It must have been intended that human being-s 
should enjoy a laugh or the sense of the ludicrous would 
not have been bestowed upon them. Life is real. It is 
an earnest thing- to live and a serious thing- to die, and it 
would not do to be always joking. Neither would it do 



158 Ifeminiscences and Sketches 



to be always thinkiug- of death and eternity. Solomon, 
who is credited with the possession of a good deal of 
wisdom (thoug-h he certainly did some very foolish things, 
such as having seven himcbed wives, for instance), says, 
" There is a time for all things." 

An eminent judge who presides with distinguished 
ability over the courts of a western district of this state, 
and who is always ready to swap inciidents in a way which 
makes social intercourse very pleasant, narrates that when 
a })oy he worked on a farm and esteemed it a great event 
to help a neighbor, who was a devout man, accustomed 
to say grace and return thanks at every meal, at thresh- 
ing. The work began early and lasted late. In order to 
get through no time was to be lost. Although they 
worked so many hours (no eight or ten-hour law limited 
their efforts), the boys all liked it because of the excite- 
ment and bustle and crowd of hands, with their occa- 
sional comitry jokes. It differed from the hum-drum 
monoton}' of ordinary day labor. Though time was of 
'' the essencie of the contract,'' as the legal maxim runs, 
and not a minute was to be lost, yet the good man of the 
house said grace and returned thanks at eacli meal, with 
no word omitted. The stereotyped ending of each prayer 
was : " And all to Thj' praise and glory, world without 
end, amen," to which the old man. with a realizing sense 
that there is a timc^ for work as well as a time to pray, 
and hurrying on with rapid utterance, added, as he snap- 
ped his eyes open, "Joe, hand round the bread." 

At Gettysburg there resides the oldest member of the 
Bedford bar, Samuel Eiddle Russell. He was admitted 
to the bar at Bedford on the 6th day of August, 1823, on 
motion of Hon. (leorge Burd. so that lie has been a law- 



A Trip to Getty sbwrg. 159 



yer for sixty-six years — two- thirds of a century ! He read 
law at Bedford Avith his brother, Hon. James McPherson 
Russell, who read law with his uncle, Samuel Riddle, in 
Chambersburg-, and married Rebecca Lyon, of Carlislej 
and settled in Bedford in 1812, and built, in the year 1817, 
the large brick house on the corner of the public square, 
now 0(^cupied by Hon. Samuel Lyon Russell. 

Samuel Riddle Russell is a genial gentleman eighty- 
eight years of age and wonderfully well-preserved. He 
was born in 1801 in Gettysburg, in the house in which 
he now^ resides. He was never married. He was an ad- 
mirer of Eliza Dillon, but delayed a little too long in 
avowing his feelings and she was wooed and won by Major 
Taliaferro. Russell had started from Gettysburg on a 
visit to Bedford, intending to propose marriage to Miss 
Dillon. ^Mieii he reached the Juniata Crossings he 
learned that she and the Major were then there on their 
bridal trip. It was a surprise and a shock. He could 
only stand and gaze and think what might have been. 

AVlien he was reading law in Bedford in 1821 and 1822 
there were four other law students. Robert J. Walker, 
afterward United States Senator from Mississippi and 
Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, was read- 
ing with his father, Judge Jonathan Walker: William 
Waugh and M. Cannon with Ge^orge Burd, and John A. 
Blodgett and Mr. Russell with James M. Russell. He 
reports that Bedford was a dull village in those days, 
with very little attractive social life — nothing to break 
the monotony in winter and very little in summer, except 
an occasional dance at the Springs. Robert J. Walker 
was undersized and w^as exceedingly sensitive on the sub- 
ject, and was twitted and annoyed by Blodgett on account 



160 Iternimscences and Sketcltes. 



of it. He wore hi^h-lieeled boots to increase his appar- 
ent heig-lit. His mother was Lucie Duncan, of Carlisle, 
who was short of stature, but very brainy, as the Dun- 
cans all were. His father, Judg-e Walker, was six feet 
four inches tall. When Mrs. Walker and the Judge 
walked arm in arm it was a sight to behold. She had to 
reach up to get her hand in his elbow. In the matter of 
Robert's size she controlled. He took after his mother, 
and he got his brains from her too. The Judge was more 
remarkable for size than brains. 

There was a long bridge across the Juniata where Rob- 
ert J. Walker and Russell, who were nearly of a size and 
both fleet of foot, used to run races. When Blodgett 
first apiDlied for admission to the bar he was rejected by 
the committee, of which Samuel Riddle was a member, 
who Avas angry at Blodgett for printing a piece in the 
newspaper against him, and plied him with difficult ques- 
tions and induced the committee to report adversely — 
not an uncommon characteristic of human nature, but by 
no means magnanimous — on the contrary small, very. 

We came home by Waynesboro' — a most lovely Penn- 
sylvania town of 4,000 inhabitants, surrounded by a fer- 
tile and well-cultivated country that is a pleasure to ride 
through and look upon. How much one man of enter- 
prise and brains can do for a town ! He can enliven the 
whole community and transmute a dull country village 
into a mart of industry and wealth, and of this truth 
Waynesboro' is an example. A man named Frick, a self- 
educated mechanic, ^vith an inventive faculty, born and 
reared near that \dllage, made certain improvements in 
machinery, and now two large manufacturing establish- 
ments give employment to hundreds of hands at Waynes- 



I Trip to Getty Hbary. IGl 



boro', and manufacture threshing'-machines, steam-en- 
g-ines, cotton-g-ins, ice-making- machinery, etc., which are 
shipped to all parts of the country. 

Mr. John H. Crebs, of Waynesboro', was a resident of 
the place at the time of the retreat of the Confederates, 
after the battle of Gettysburg", and was an eye-witness of 
the scene. The rebel forces went in a hurry, pell-mell, 
with cannon four abreast. General Lee rode about the 
middle of the retreating host, surrounded by his staff. 
His countenance was stern, but placid. A little boy of 
foiu^ or five years of age — Charlie Smith, son of Samuel 
Smith — advanced to the edge of a porch with a small 
United States flag and waved it at General Lee with a 
cheer. The General raised his hat, smiled pleasantly and 
saluted. He was a big-hearted man, and deserves all that 
is said in his praise. This little incident indicates it. 
Weig-hted down with care and responsibility, and in the 
midst of a retreat after a serious defeat, he noticed the 
little boy. It shows he was calm and self-possessed, as 
well as kind-hearted. 

Wlien you want to take an enjoyable summer trip go 
to Gettysburg and Pen-Mar. You cannot invest three 
days of time and a few dollars more profitably. And if 
you wish a genial traveling companion take the Bishop 
along. 



11 



THE STAGE-DRIVER AND THE 
JUDGE. 



n\ /TODERN methods of locomotion have worked great 
chang-es in many respects. The old Concord 
stage-coach, with its nine passeng-ers inside and two out- 
side, has almost entirely disappeared, and the profes- 
sional stage-driver of the last generation, who was so 
marked a character, has disappeared with it. When he 
was mounted on his box, with the lines drawn taut over 
his four lively horses, glistening in coats of well-brushed 
hair, with manes and tails flowing free, and the harness 
black and burnished, and bright rosettes at the horses' 
ears, with his lithe hickory -handled whip and its long- 
buckskin lash, he was king of the occasion. He was con- 
ductor, brakeman, engineer and fireman, all in one. He 
could drive fast or slow, as he pleased, and be as sulky, 
and crabbed, and profane to passengers as he wished. 
As he bowled along, from his high seat he could look 
down on pedestrians and slow-moving wagons and pass 
them }>y with a crack of contempt. Passengers were 
wont to projiitiate his highness with a cigar or an invi- 
tation to drink, and endeavored to win his favor by pleas- 

(102) 



The Stugt'Drioer and the Jiuhjc 163 



ant remarks and a differential manner. For the time 
being- he was a man of consequence and importance, and 
felt it fully. 

The forty years which have intervened since railroads 
have superseded turnpikes have sent nearly all these old 
fellows on the long- journey from w^iich no traveler returns ; 
but here and there one remains, a tottering- old man, liv- 
ing- in his recollections of the past. I met one to- day. 
He walks slowly with a cane ; but his eye is bright and 
clear, and liis memory good, and as he squirts his tobacco 
juice half a rod or more with the precision of a marks- 
man, proud of his skill, he delig-hts to talk of times long: 
gone, and of ihe fine teams he di'ew ribbons on and of 
the incidents of his earljr life. The old man I introduce 
you to is Samuel Bag-ley, of Bedford, Pennsylvania. 

Born in 1810, he started as a stage-driver about 1828, and 
for forty years drove stage in and out of Bedford. Many 
a member of congress from the west, and many a judge 
and merchant, traveled with him, and was glad of the 
honor of a place beside him on the driver's box on clear, 
bright days, when the diversified scenerj^ of mountain and 
valley made an outside seat so enjoyable. General Cass 
and Henry Clay rode behind him, and Edwin Forrest, the 
actor, and "Tariff Andy " Stewart, and Charles Ogle and 
many another man of note. 

The old drivers all chewed tobacco and drank whisky — 
"not to excess,^' quoth my friend, "four or five drinks a 
day, maybe," good, regular, methodical, steady drinking, 
that did no man harm, according to the notions of that 
timc^, but aided digestion and made life rosy, to say noth- 
ing of noses: and their conversation was rendered pointed 
and emphatic by oaths well laid in ^\ith euphonistic skill 



1(U lioniniscenrcs (duI Sketches. 

at proper intervals, like the caesural pauses in blank verse, 
an oath for every ten or twenty words — merely for rhythm. 

As he recalls the i)ast my ancient friend grows eloquent 
in his praises of the grand old times of stage-coaching- 
and the excellent meals of fried chicken and w^alfles and 
hot cofi'ee at the w^ayside inn, where the arrival of the 
stage was the great event of the day. He describes wdth 
zest the dignified appearance of the ancient landlord and 
his courteous demeanor as he somewhat pompously re- 
ceived the tired travelers and ushered them, in winter, 
into his best room, with its huge, crackling, cheerful hick- 
ory-wood fire in the open Franklin stove. He remembers 
the aroma of the oily old rye whisky which the landlord 
was wont to produce for the delectation of his guests to 
revive their tired bodies and give tone to the appetite. 
'"Why, you could smell the blossom of the rye-field," 
quoth he; and he recounts the conversational pleasant- 
ries and hon nioU and sociability w^liich the meals and the 
whisky engendered, and sighs for the past — the good old 
days when he was young and vigorous, before the country 
Avas ruined by railroads. 

"Yes, I was born in 1810, and Judge Black was born 
the same year. Well, he's dead now — three or four years 
— and I must soon follow^ We must all go. It comes 
sooner or later to all. The Judge and I were born just 
thirty miles apart, and in the same year — he in the glades 
of Somerset, a farmer boy, and I in a little old log house 
at the western end of Bedford. Yes, this is the first place 
I ever came to. I stopped here when I came, just seven- 
ty-eight years ago. AVe both started pretty low down. 
He got to be a great judge, and I was only a stage-driver. 
But I'd rather be a stage-diiver than a judge. It suited 



Tlie StOAje-Driver and the Jadye. 165 



me better. Well, I'll tell you how my team rau off, and 
liow I came near licking- Judge Black. I remember it 
well. It was the first time I ever met him ; but I didn't 
know him then. 

"I was driving a four-horse coach on the Glade Pike — 
from the Wliite Horse Tavern, on the top of the Alle- 
gheny, to Bedford. I had a double route; drove two 
teams; changed at Metzgar's, on the Dry Ridge. It was 
in 1842, when the Judge came to Bedford to hold court 
for the first time. I had a full load — nine inside. A big 
man was on the front boot beside me. AVe had no con- 
versation until the runaway of my team that I'm going 
to tell you about. As I came along b}^ Samuel Stuckeys 
Ijlace, about nine oclock at night, a sudden thunder- 
storm came on. I never had but two teams to run away 
— one at night and one in daylight — in the forty years T 
drove. There was a flash and a crash that seemed to split 
the sky, and the horses jumped and started, quick as the 
lightning — all but. It was a mighty good team. I was 
always ready for them — two grays at the lead and two 
roans at the wheels. The team belonged to Jake 
Peters. They had hardly jumped till I had a strong pull 
on them. It was a beautiful star-light night till the storm 
came up ; very dark then ; a heavy rain for half an hour. 
I could only see the road when the lightning flashed. 
When they started the man beside me grabbed for the 
lines. I told him with an oath — I could curse in them 
days — if he touched a line I would knock him off' the box 
with the wrench that was in the boot. He never spoke a 
word. I kept cursing him and he kept grabbing at the 
lines; but I didn't let him get hold of them. I told him 
if he caught aline he would run me ofl' the road and upset 
me and kill the passengers. By that time we came to 



166 Reni'ntiscetHM'S and Skefdics. 

Georg-e Stuckey's yard. That was one mile they had i:.un. 
There it lig-htened and I saw the house, and I pulled the 
leaders up so that they ran against the porch and it 
knocked them both down. The wheel-horses ran onto 
them with their front feet, and then we stopped The 
big man got down and went into the house in a hurry, 
and I saw no more of him till I was ready to start, and 
that was in half an hour." 

" He didn't offer to help you then ?" 

"Oh, no! In fact they all ran into the house as quick 
as they could get out of the coach. 

" There was always a lot of tin lanterns with tallow can- 
dles in them about old taverns in them days, and soon 
several men were there to help me. The leaders were a good 
while coming to. We threw cold water on them. Finally 
we were ready to start — nothing broken — nobody hurt. 
I hollered huiTah ! for my passengers. The big man got 
up beside me. I told him, wdth an oath or two, tliat I 
was going to drive the team to Bedford and lick it like 

, and if he touched a line I would knock out of him 

wdtli that wrench. He didn't say a word — sung dumb — 
behaved like a gentleman from there to town — never of- 
fered to touch a line. I licked them up, and took on a 
full run all the way to Bedford. I tell you I had them as 
hot as griddle-crdves when I got tliem there. 

"The next day, after I had my team fixed and my A\ork 
done, I strolled around to the Wasliington Hotel. Col- 
onel Joe Ot^tinger kept it then . He was in the bar room 
and a big man sitting there talking to him — no one else 
there. I didn't know the big man was the man that had 
rid beside me. 

"The Colonel said to me, '8am, you had bad luck last 
night.' 



lltv Sfaye-Dr i rcr and the Judge. 1(57 



" I replied: ' No, sir; I had no bad luck ; I had a run-off, 
but I had no bad luck — nobody killed and nobody hurt 

The only trouble T had was to manage a d d fool who 

sat beside me and kept g-rabbing- at the lines when the 
team was running-, and I kept cursing- him and threatened 
to knock him overboard with the wrench. I told him if 
he didn't quit he would upset the coach and kill the pas- 
seng-ers.' 

"Well, after that Otting-er introduced me to the man, 
and called him Judge Black, and the Judg-e said to me: 

" ' Sir, you would make one of the best witnesses in the 
world in a critical case — your narration is exact and cor- 
rect. I am the man who sat beside you. You did pre- 
cisely right. I was excited. You were calm. You did 
your duty, and did it well. You managed your team and 
you manag-ed me !' 

"After that he and I were always sociable as long- as he 
lived. AVlien I drove street-cars in Washing-ton city, in 
1863, I often saw^ him walking- along the avenue, and he 
would take off his high plug hat and raise it over his head 
and call to me : 

" 'How are you, old Dry Ridge f 

"Yes, he was a pleasant, sociable man: but he never 
forgot that ride in the thunder-storm with the runaway 
team. Nor did I. I made a judge behave himself that 
time. He sat as mute as a whipped school-boy ; but I 
didn't know him then. I guess if I had known him I 
wouldn't have done it. 

"Yes, the Judge was a great man. He knew how to 
sit on a high seat and manage a set of lawyers and run a 
com't : but he didn't know how to manage four frightened 
horses rimning-off' after night in a thunder-storm." 



AN UNRECORDED BATTLE. 



"TTTHEN a great battle between larg-e armies is fought, 
it is made up of a multitude of movements and 
events obscured by smoke and confusion, of which no one 
man sees more than a very small part. The historian 
draws on his imagination for most of his details, and 
more or less uncertainty surrounds his narration. He 
describes it as he thinks it must have occurred. But the 
skirmisli, the battle between outposts, the encounter be 
tween small bodies of bellig-erents, these are ^\dtnessed 
sometimes from l)eg-inning- to end and can be truthfull}^ 
l)ortrayed. Lately I fell in with a gentleman who was an 
eye-witness of the battle of McConnellsburg". 

Fulton is said to be the only county in Pennsylvania 
which does not have within its borders a single mile of rail- 
road. It is one of the few counties, however, which can 
boast of a real battle during" the late war. Althoug-h the 
forces eng-ag-ed were not larg-e, it was a X3itched battle — 
a defiance to a cavalry combat, accepted and fought to a 
finish without gloves. 

McConnellsburg, the county seat, is a village of six or 
eight hundred inhabitants, situated in the midst of a beau- 

(108) 



An Unrecorded B((ftle. 169 



tiful limestone valley. The Tuseaiora or North Mount- 
ain bounds it on the east, separating- it from Franklin 
county, and on the west oi the villag-e, at the distance^ of 
a mile, is a hig-li ridg-e. As \Hm ]>ass over these mount- 
ains on the tm'npike road on a fair day the views from the 
summits are very beautiful and well reward the traveler. 
The whole valley, called the Big- Gove, stretches before 
you in full view, with is varieg-ated siui'ace of farm build- 
ing's and fields and patches of woodland, with the shad- 
o\\ s of floating- clouds chasing each other across the plains 
and up the mountain sides. The village is for the most 
]jart built on both sides of the tm-npike, and is probably 
tliree-fourth of a mile in lengrth. Near the center of it, 
in the latter jDart of Jime, 1863, at the time of Lee's in- 
vasion of Pennsylvania, was a stone tavern kept by Henry 
Hoke. Part of General Milroy's force, which had re- 
treated from Winchester, Yirg-inia, lay at Bloody Run, in 
Bedford county, twenty-five miles west of McConnells- 
burg-. With this force was Captain Jones of the First 
New York Cavalry- , which leg-iment, otherwise known as 
the " Lincoln Cavalry,'" was the first volunteer cavalry of 
tlie war, and remained in the service till its close, and has 
a record of many a brilliant charg-e. 

Captain Jones, witli a |)art of his company, was out on 
a scout, and had ridden into McConnc^llsburg- and dis- 
mounted at the tavern. Hv and most of his men were 
inside the house and their horses were hitched along- the 
street, wdien w^ord came that the rebels were coming- down 
the mountain. A part of Im})oden's cavalry force, which 
was moving- on the left fiank of Lees advancing army, 
had been encamped in the Gap six miles east of McCon- 
nellsburg for a day or two, and it was a sm;dl detachment 



170 , Be))ruiisc(')ires and Sl'f'f cites. 



of these roug-li riders that was apx)roaching'. Captain 
Jones said he would give them a l)insh, and ordered his 
men to mount. Each man examined his pistol and thrust 
it into the leg- of his ])oot so as to be ready for conven- 
ient use, and then they mounted and drew their sabres 
and retreated, as it were, at a slow walk toward the bridg"e 
at the west end of the villag-e. The street was the turn- 
pike^a long-, straig-ht road. The rebels came on at a 
lope. A uniformed company of home-g-uards from the 
neig-hborhood of Orbisonia, in Huntingxlon county, under 
Dr. Winthrode, about fifty strong, on g-ood fat horses, was 
there also. Jones said all he asked of them was to fall 
in at the rear and make a show. As Jones went west 
these men were in front. They were to g-o on west to the 
bridge, and when Jones wheeled to charg-e were to fall in 
behind to swell the apparent numbers. Captain Jones 
seems to have realized from the first that the Orbisonia 
farmers were more for ornament than use, like Gold- 
smith's "broken china wisely placed for show." 

When he g-ot do^^^l near the bridg"e Jones, wdio was rid- 
ing slowly behind his men, in a loud voice ordered them 
to wheel and chargv. They did it promptly, Jones lead- 
ing the van. They came up the street like a whirh^dnd, 
every fellow for himself, with their horses at a full run. 
The rebels had slackened their pace nearl}^ to a walk be- 
fore Jones ordered his charge. Their manner was irres- 
olute. Defeat seemed hovering- over them in advanc(» of 
the battle. As soon as Jones g-ot cleverly started on the 
charge the rebels turned and fied. The distance between 
the forces at that time was a])Out one hmidred yards. 
The Hunting-don militia came on in the rear in fine style 
until thev reached the cross street wliieh leads toward the 



^tn lhi,)'(X(>rdf'd liaitle. 171 



court-house, up which they turned — all of them — not an 
exception. They may be going- yet, my informant said, 
for aught he knew. None of them ever came back to see 
the result. Discretion struck them as the better part of 
valor. However, they served a g"ood purpose. Their 
presence had helped to intimidate the foe. 

The first firing- was at the brow of the little ascent or 
hill toward the east end of the villag-e. A number of 
shots were interchang-ed. The rebels fired an occasional 
shot backward as they fied. When they reached the forks 
of the pike east of the village they halted and made a 
kind of a stand for a minute or two ; but they soon broke 
and retreated headlong up the Mercersburg Pike, with 
Jones in close and hot pursuit. 

My informant continued : "I had run out to the east 
end of town and sat on the fence as the troops passed 
me, and as soon as they disappeared up the Mercersburg 
Pike I followed and saw a wouned rebel lying in the mid- 
dle of the road, who was living. I got him to the side of 
the road. He was shot in the back betAveen the shoulders, 
and the ball could be seen just beneath the skin in his 
breast. He lived about fifteen minutes, and gave me his 
name, Avhich was William Shelton, of Bath county, Vir- 
ginia. He said his wife's name was Mary. I wrote to 
her, but got no reply. About one hundred yai'ds east of 
this man another rebel lay, but he was dead when I got 
to him. 

'■Jones came back befoj'e long ^vdth some thirty jiris- 
oners, A\hicli was more than his own entire force. He 
took them on west to Bloody Bun. The fight was at noon. 
That same day in the aft(3rn()on the entire rebel regiment 
came on, and divide h1 their forces as thev came down the 



172 Ileminiscence.s and Sketches. 



mountain, and sent one-half to the southward, who wound 
around and approached the tow^l from the west, while the 
other half came in from the east. They met in the town 
and searched all the houses, but Jones had departed with 
his prisoners, and they found nobody, and in the evening 
they went over the mountain and we saw no more of 
them: The two dead soldiers were^ buried by the citizens 
just inside of Daniel Fores meadow along-side of the Mer- 
cersburg Pike, and there they lie yet, in unmarked o^raves. 

"I guess I was the only maii who saw it all. At any 
rate I was the onl}' person on the street. 

"The reb(4s were encumbered with store «-oods, Avhich 
they had strapjied behind their saddles. They seemed 
to have plundered some store. They had shoes and cali- 
coes, and I saw one hooped skirt. Jones, when he brought 
back his prisoners, took these goods from them and scat- 
tered them on the pavements of the town for the use of 
the citizens." 

In the great magnitude of the war this little battle is a 
mere drop in the bucket ; but it was well managed and 
bravely fought by Captain Jones, -who was a cavalry officer 
of great merit. A few days after this he captured a large 
section of a wagon-train of rebel w^ounded who w^ere re. 
treating from Gettysburg and took them into Chambers- 
burg. He had been a non-commissioned officer in the 
regular army pre^dous to the war, and had the experience, 
and courage, and tact, and confidence of his men, neces- 
sary to success. 



A CHAPTER OF BEDFORD HISTORY. 



SIMON KENTON, THE INDIAN HATER. AND 
SIMON GIRTY, THE RENEGADE. 



TN the year 1755, at the very time that General Brad- 
dock was concentrating- his force of scarlet-clad Brit- 
ish and auxiliary Pro\'incials to march them, A\'ith all the 
ostentation of military display, to be slaug-htered by In- 
dians and French in ambush near Fort Duquesne, there 
was born into the world, in Farquier county, Virofinia, a 
boy babe who was destined to grow up to manhood a 
more expert marksman, more wonderfully skilled in wood- 
craft, more alert of hand and fleet of foot, more courage- 
ous, vig-ilant, endurinor, and implacable than the Indians 
themselves — their master at their oanii arts of war and 
horse-stealing-, their conspicuous and hated foe, whose 
whole existence was to bec<:)me absorbed by an indiscrim- 
inatt^ thirst for revenge that embraced within its scope 
the unarmed squaw as well as the warrior, the hel])less 
papoose as well as superaimuated feebleness, and was sat- 
isfied with nothing short of the extermination of the 

(173) 



174 lit) niniHcey tees and Sketches. 



whole red-skinned nice, actuated by the profound convic- 
tion that there was and could be no good Indian but a 
dead Lidian, The l)oy's name was Simon Kenton. 

He was the product of his age — the outgrowth of his 
suiTOundings. Raised on the border as a hunter, trap- 
per and scout, with the eyesight of an eagle and nerves 
and sinews of steel, his life was in constant X3eril, and de- 
pending on his own vigilance, alertness, resolution and 
courage for the continuance of his existence, he became 
one of the typical men of his time — an Lidian hater and 
Indian hunter. He hunted Indians as other men hunt 
Avolves and wildcats. He differed fi-om the A\^estminster 
Assembly of Divines as to w^iat is the chief end of man. 
Man's chief end, according to his catechism, was to hate 
Indians and to hunt them forever. As the Indian war- 
rior believed in a happy hunting-ground in the world be- 
yond, where, with his pony and dog, he would spend an 
eternity of bliss in coursing the wild deer through i3rime- 
val forests interspersed with lovely natural meadows and 
bright streams of pure water, so Kenton, if he had any- 
thing in him beyond the severely practical, must have 
pictured to himself a heaven in which Lidian-hunting 
was the chi(4' reward in the life beyond for a life well 
spent here. 

This man, or boy rather, for he was but eighteen years 
of age at the time, in the year 1773, walked the streets of 
our ancient village of Bedford. Ah! if the streets of 
Bedford could but talk, what a lively history they could 
give ! ^liat a host of noted men, and great men, and 
brave men, and some l)ad men, too, have fi'om time to 
time within the century and a third of the old town's ex- 
istence lived here, or been here as temporary sojourners, 



/ Chapter i>f Jkdford H\siin>j. 175 



or passed through as travelers ! Washing-ton (facile prin- 
ceps in natural dig'nity and goodness), and Forbes, and 
Bouquet, and 8t. Clair, and Mad Anthony Wayne, and 
Colonel Crawford, who was tortured to death l)y the Ohio 
Indians in 1782, and Alexander Hamilton, and Albert 
(xallatin, and Clay, and Webster, and Harrison, and Cass, 
and Buchanan, and Zachary Taylor, and Stanton, and 
Thaddeus Stevens, and Robert J. Walker, and Judg-es 
Gibson, and Tod, and Grier, and Tawney , and Black, and 
Lewis, the robber, (big company I have put him in, })ut 
he was no common man) and Reverdy Johnson, and 
William M. Meredith, and "Tariff Andy ■ Stewart, and 
" Spooney " Ogle — these and numerous others of the past 
jind of the living great men down to our times. T\liat, 
l)y reason of her position on the old Indian trail (for 
Lidians had their traveled ways, they did not roam pur- 
poseless hither and yon through trackless forests, as 
many people think) and on the packers' path, and being 
the rendezvous of the Forbes expedition of 1758 and the 
Bouquet expeditions of 1763 and 1764, and of the army 
to suppress the Whisky Insun-ection of 1794, and since 
that time an important point on tlie old state road, and 
afterward on the turni)ike, that great thoroughfare be- 
tween the east and the west, and the summer resort at the 
Springs, Bedford is more widely known and has been 
more resorted to than most places of its size in the coun- 
try. It is an historic town. If these old streets could 
talk how interesting their reminiscences ! But they are 
mute, and men in this fast and stii-ring life of our new 
comitry have lived so much in thc^ present, and cared so 
little for the past and so little for the future, that many of 
the interesting incidents of th(^ life of our village and 
county have gt)ne into oblivion beyond recall. 



176 Rendniscences and Sketches. 



No doul)t the Indian Cornstalk, chief of the Shawnees, 
visited Raystown in his time. The Indians of the county 
were Shawnees. The Indian sub-chief Will, (who gave 
name to the long-, even -topped and beautiful Will's Mount- 
ain that stretches from Bedford to Cumberland, which 
is cut in two just west of Cumberland by the wondrously 
[)icturesque and grand water gap of Will's Creek) was a 
Shawnee, and one of the tributaries of the Juniata in the 
county is the Shawnee Cabin Creek. It is doubtful 
whether any bigger man (not physically, but in what 
makes the real man) ever trod the single street of the 
straggling village of Raystown, or the streets of its suc- 
c^essor, this ancient village of Bedford, than that same 
Cornstalk. Nature in all ages and among all races pro- 
duces great men. They are born, not made. They come 
to the top by some law of action as sure in its operation 
as the \si^v of gravitation — the law of the eternal fitness 
of things. 

Lord Dunmore was governor of Virginia, and in 1774 
he organized an expedition which resulted in the battle 
of Point Pleasant. The Ohio Lidians (Shawnees and 
Dela wares) were commanded by Cornstalk. Eleven hun- 
dred Virginians under General Lewis concentrated at 
Point Pleasant, where the Kanawha empties into the 
Ohio, for a raid on the Ohio Indian villages. They were 
to join another force of one thousand men under Lord 
Dunmore. But Cornstalk anticipated them and himself 
made the attack before the junction. He forced the bat- 
tle on ground of his own choosing, in the fork between 
the two rivers, where, liad he triumphed, he w^ould have 
exterminated his foe, for there was no way of retreat for 
the white men. He displayed, in his i^lan of attack and 



A Chapter of Bedford Historij. 



retreat, g-reat skill, bravery and g-eneralshi]), and iiitiicted 
severe loss upon the whites. It was a hard f(^ ugh t field 
on both sides. The battle lasted the entii-e day. During- 
the whole fig-ht Cornstalk was everywhere among- his 
warriors, encoui'ag-ing- them with the voice of a Htentor, 
"Be strong-, be strong;" and it is said that he slew one of 
his men with his own hand for cowardice. The whites lost 
seventy -five killed and one hundred and forty wounded. 
The number of Indians eng-ag-ed and their loss was never 
ascertained. They withdrew in the nig-ht. The big- man 
of the occasion was evidently Cornstalk. Self-reliant 
manhood, courag-e, skill and patriotic devotion to his 
peoi)le made him g-reat. 

To return to Simon Kenton. At seventeen years of 
ag-e he fell in love with a neig-hboring- lass. A young- 
well-to-do farmer was his rival. Prompted by hatrtnl, 
superinduced by jealousy, they fought, and Kenton was 
soundly thrashed ; but the next year, with added height 
and streng-th, in another battle, he nearly killed his rival 
and left him, as he thoug-ht, dead and fled. The tradi 
tion that comes down in the Bedford county Kiiiton fam 
ily is that Simon Kenton was a nephew of Thomas Kin- 
ton, the horse-master of the Forbes expedition, and when 
he fied from Farquier he made his home for awhile five 
miles west of Bedford with his relatives, the Kintons of 
Kinton's Knob. He followed hunting- and trapping-, 
rang-ing- the water-courses of the Cheat, Youghiog-heny, 
and Monong-ahela, and in 1774 he became a scout foi- 
Lord Dunmore's expedition and was at the fig-ht of Point 
Pleasant. After that war ended and peace was rt^stored 
with the Ohio tribes, he explored Kentucky and cleared 

a small ])atch and built a cabin near ^^■hert^ the town of 
19 



178 Ilcinhiisveuccs and Skelvhcs. 

\V;isliiii^toii, Mason county, Kentucky, now stands, and 
i-aised a little corn, claimed to be the first corn raised by 
a white man in Kentucky. He and Boone and Harod 
were the first settlers in that state, and it is said Kenton 
preceded the others by a few weeks. 

He and Simon Girty trapped and hunted together in 
1773, and were fast friends. Thej^ w^ere about the same 
ag-e. It is supposed they became acquainted during his 
sojourn in this county. The tradition of the neighbor- 
liood years ago was that Girt}^ was a nephew of James 
Dalton, a prominent man and large landowner of Bed- 
ford township in 1773, who Kved within a few miles of 
the Kintons. Girty was a white man who afterward be- 
came a renegade, joined the savages, and was adopted 
into their nation and became worse than a savage. His 
memory is execrated to this day. He stood by, in 1782, 
and saw Colonel Crawford burned at the stake and jeered 
him in the midst of his torments, and was never known 
to spare one of his race that fell into his hands except 
Kenton, whom he saved from torture and burning. In 
his speech in the Indian council in behalf of his friend he 
said he never before had asked a favor of a white man's life 
and never would again. It took repeated speeches and 
Jill his eloquence, and he brought on himself many a 
scowl and muttered taunt from the savage warriors. Ken- 
ton, the county town of Hardin county, Ohio, a place 
containing six or eight thousand inhabitants, is named 
after Simon Kenton. 

Thomas Kinton, horse-master of General Forbes* expe- 
dition, was the larget^t landowner in Bedford towTiship 
by the first assessment of the county made in 1772. He 
owned six hundred acres of land, of which forty acres 



A Cha,pter of Bedford Hisfonj. 179 

were then cleared. This land is now owned and occupied 
by Theodore Kinton (a great-grandson), Asa Stuckey and 
James Mortimore. Thomas Kinton had three sons, viz., 
Thomas, Simon and John, and by his will (dated in 1777) 
he de\dsed a farm to each. The name is spelled Kenton 
in the old assessment lists and court record. 

In 1794 Simon Kenton and John Kenton, of Bedford 
townshii^, with about one hundred other citizens, were ar- 
rested on a charg-e of aiding in the Whisky Insm'rection 
by raising- a seditious pole with a banner inscribed "Lil)- 
erty and No Excise," at or near the Forks, where George 
Stuckey now lives. At January sessions, 1795, in a court 
X^resided over by James Riddle as president judg-e, and 
by Georg-e Woods (2d) and Hug-h Barclay as associate 
judg"es, they pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to pay 
fines varying- from five shillings to fifteen pounds, which 
they paid. The entire population west of Bedford sym- 
pathized in the Whisky Insurrection. The excise law 
was reg-arded as a g-reat oppression and wrong. It IcA-ied 
a tax of fourpence a gallon on distilled spirits. The set- 
tlers in western Pennsylvania, in Allegheny, Washing- 
ton, Westmoreland and Fayette counties dei^ended for 
cash upon the sale of whisky. Their chief agfricultural 
production was rye, which could not be transported over 
the mountains in bulk. Their only attainal)le market 
was hy converting- it into whisky and sending it in arks 
down the Ohio and Mississip])i and on ])ack-hors(^s across 
the mountains. Every fifth or sixth farmer A\'a,s a distiller, 
who converted his own and his n(ighbor's g-rain. Tliey 
had no other means of prociuing- i-eady money. TIk^ ex- 
cise tax fell upon th(^m with unusual hardship and seemed 
unequal and unjust. They were mostly of the Scotch- 



180 llemitiisccuces and Sketcht-^. 

Irish r;u'(\ hikI were not the sort of peoj^h^ apt to submit 
cahiily to what they reg-arded as a wrong. Alexander 
Hamilton, than whom America has produced no g-reater 
statesman, was AVashiiigton's Secretary of the Treasury 
and was the originator of this law, which was desig-ned 
to raise money to pay off the national debt incurred in 
the Revolutionary War. To this day Hamilton's name is 
held in abhorrence b}" some of the descendants of the 
orig-inal settlers in western Pennsylvania. 

It was on the occasion of the Wliisky Insurrection that 
Washing-ton was at Bedford for a day or two, and this is 
the only time he ever was here, except as a part of the 
Forbes expedition in 1758, and it is doubtful if he was at 
the place more than one nig'ht at that time. He was at 
Fort Cumberland with the g-reater part of his reg-iment 
until the expedition was ready to move from Raystown 
to Loyalhanna Creek, and moved through the "ctani]) 
near Raystown" without tarrying more than a day or two, 
as the dates of his letters show. 

The story of his having an Episcopal chaplain along, 
and that the earliest relig-ious services held in Bedford 
were Episcopalian, which has crept into a newspaper pub- 
lication, and into that wonderful collection of badly-lith- 
ographed photographs pu )lished a few years since as a 
history of Bedford county, is aU imag-ination. AVliat a 
marvelous thing is denomination;d zeal ! It don't make a 
farthing-'s difference to anybody now living- what sort of 
relig-ious services were held first in Bedford, whether they 
were Presbyterian, or Episcopal, or Reformed, or Luth- 
eran. They are all good of the kind for those that like 
that kind; and it is scarcely worth while to fabricate 
history on the point. The bulk of Forbes' forces were 



I Clidptcr i>f lirdford Hi.storf/. 181 



Scoteli-Irisli, who were Presbyterians. The remainder 
\\ere mostly of German descent, Avho were Lutheran and 
lleformed. Colonel Bonquet was of the Reformed faith, 
and Colonel John Armstrong-, of Carlisle, who commanded 
the Pennsylvania Provincials, was a Presbyterian elder. 
The probability is that the first relig-ious services held at 
Bedford were Presbyterian. Colonel Armstrong- had a 
Presbyterian chaplain with his provincial forces, and it is 
recorded that the Rev. Charles Beatty, chaplain in the 
Forbes army, and a Presbyterian, preached a thanksg-iv- 
ing- sermon in old Fort Duquesne in November, 1758, on 
the occasion of the occupation of tlie fort by General 
Forbes. Although the book was got up on catchpenny 
principles and contains maiij^ inaccui'acies of statement, 
as well as bad pictures, yet it also contains a g-reat deal 
of historical information as to families, which, in the 
course of time, when this g-eneration has departed, will 
become valuable and worth preserving". It is a pity the 
volume is not better bound and of a more convenient sha)>e. 



WASHINGTON, HOUOUKT AND FORBES. 



TN th(^ Hjddimand i)apers hi the British Museum are 
the official reports and correspondence of Colonel 
Henry Boucpiet, and among* these are a number of lettei's 
from George^ Washing-ton, written at tlu^ " Camx^ at Fort 
Cumberland," and addressed to " Colonel Bouquet, com 
manding His Majesty's forces ;d Raystown," dated in 



182 Reminiscence.^ and S kef dies. 



July and Au^-ust, 1758. These letters were published for 
the first time in the Mag-azine of American History, in 
February, 1889. 

If there had been any fort at Bedford at that time (as 
has been alleged) it is exceeding-ly improbable that 
Washing'ton would have addi'essed his letters to " Colo- 
nel Bouquet commanding at Raystown." In all his cor- 
respondence he recognizes the fact that there was a fort 
at Cumberland. It seems, therefore, quite certain that 
if there had been a fort at Bedford it would have been 
mentioned and the letters would have been addressed to 
Colonel Bouquet, commanding- His Majesty's forces at 
Fort Bedford." 

The expedition of General Forbes rendezvoused at 
Ilaysto^^al. Its object was the capture of Fort Du Quesne 
from the French. The force consisted of Provincials 
from Pennsylvania, Virg-inia, Maryland and North Caro- 
Ima, of Montg-omery's regiment of Highlanders, and of a 
detachment of a regiment known as the "Royal Ameri- 
cans," amomiting in all, with wagoners, pack-horse 
drivers, and camp followers, to between six and seven 
thousand men. The Royal American regiment was a new 
corps raised in the colonies, largely among the Germans 
of Pennsylvania. Its officers were from Eurojje, and con- 
spicuous among them was Lieutenant Colonel Henry 
Bouquet, a brave and accomplished Swiss, who com- 
manded one of the four l)attalions, of one thousand men 
each, of which the corps was composed. Early in July, 
1758, he was encamped with the advance guard at Rays- 
town. This town was a small Indian A^llage named 
after an Indian trader, and was situated on the flat be- 
tween Duiniing's Creek and the Juniata, and the camp of 



J Chapter <>/ Bedford Histonj. 183 

Forbes' forces were on the same flat and on the land east 
of the present town of Bedford and alon^;- Shover's Rnn. 

John Forbes was a bri*^adier g-eneral in the British 
army, Scotch by birth, forty-eight years of ai>•(^ an abh^ 
and faithful soldier. He began life as a student of medi- 
cine, and came to Philadelphia in April, 1758, to take 
command of the army ag-ainst Fort Du Quesne. 

The Yirginia Provincials were in two regiments, one of 
which was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel 
Georg-e Washing-ton, who was then twenty-six years of 
ag-e. Washing-ton marched from Winchester, Virg-inia, 
on the •24th of June, 1758, and arrived at Fort Cumber- 
land on the 2d of July with five companies of his reg-i- 
ment (the First Virg-inia) and a company of roadmakers. 

The rendezvous of the Pennsylvania Provincials was at 
Carlisle, and of the Virginia and Maryland forces at Fort 
Cumberland. Forbes reached Carlisle in July, sick with 
what he called " a cursed flux," and was quite ill for 
weeks. He started from Carlisle for Baystown on the 
11th of August, carried on a litter made of a hurdle and 
swung between two horses, and was ol^liged to halt at 
Shippensl)urg, where he lay helpless until September 
was well advanced. 

The forces under Forbes built the fort near Baystown, 
on the bank of the river, between Bichard strc^et and Ju- 
lianna street, during the summer of 1758, and it was 
called Fort Bedford, in honor of the Duke of Bedford. 
The town, laid out by the Penns in 1766, and the county, 
organized in 1771, took name from the fort. 

The two-story log houst^ which constituted the central 
part of the Bising Sun tavern, which was destroyed by 
fire on the 14th of December, 1885, was l)uilt as a resi- 



184 lieininiscences and Sketches. 



deuce for the eoininanding" officers of the fort, probably 
ill 1758. At all events it was built prior to 1761. In that 
3^ ear, on the 29th of October, the manor of Bedford was 
surveyed for the Penns by John Armstrong, and the 
di'aft shows the location of the fort, the commandant's 
house, and several sutlers' cabins, marked " houses built 
by sutlers who followed the army." It is quite clear 
there was no private house where Bedford now stands at 
the time of the survey of the manor in 1761. 

The road was cut for the army up Harmon's Bottom 
and by the place called th<^ "Breastworks" (yet traceable) 
on the Allegheny Momitain, at the head of the Breast- 
works Run, to which it gives name. Prior to that 
time there was no wagon road west of Bedford except 
Braddock's road from Fort Cumberland. Travel and 
tiansportation, what little there was, was by the packer's 
path. 

The Highlanders were dressed in kilts, the Boyal 
Americans in scarlet, and the Provincials at first in a uni- 
form, but linally, at the instance of Washington, in hunt- 
ing shirts and leggings, like Indians. 

Major George Ai'mstrong, of the Pennsylvania forces, 
had command of the dt^tachment of roadmakers. 

On the 14th of September Major Grant and the High- 
landers made a scout from Loyalhanna, which resulted in 
the battle of Grants Hill. Grant had about eight hun- 
drtnl men. mostly Highlanders, and lost about two hun- 
drf^d and fifty in killed, wound and missing. He com- 
mitttid the great error of despising his foe, and advanced 
down the hill on the fort with drums beating and colors 
flying, and was slaughtered and routed in short order. 

Ill the beginning of November Forbes was carried on 



J Clidptcr of lU'dford Hisforij. 185 

a litter from Raystown to Loj^alhanna creek, where a 
stockade had been erected, and the whole army g-athered 
there, and on the 18tli of November 2,500 picked men 
moved forward without tents or bagg^ag-e to attack Fort 
Du Quesne. Forbes was present, carried on a litter. 
Colonel Montgomery led the Hig-hlanders, Colonel Bou- 
quet the Royal Americans, and AVashing-ton the Provin- 
cials. On the 24th of November this force, encamped at 
Turtle Creek, heard the explosion of the magazine. The 
French blew up the fort and retreated without a battle. 
Forbes advanced and took possession of the place and 
called it Fort Pitt in honor of the great Eng-lish minister, 
William Pitt. No sooner was the work done than Gen- 
eral Forbes fell into a state of entire prostration, and lay 
in that condition at Fort Pitt for some time. In Decem- 
ber he was carried back on a littei- to Philadelphia, where 
he died the following March, and was buried in the 
chancel of Christ church. He must have been a man of 
g-reat nerve and of a most resolute and determined will. 
Think of a man prostrated by disease, commanding such 
an expedition in person ! He purposely delayed moving- 
on Fort Du Quesne until the cold weather of November. 
His idea was that the Indian allies of the French would 
g-o home on the approach of winter, and that the fort 
would fall into his possession without a siege or assault, 
which proved to be the case. 

Thomas Kinton (after whom is nam(Ml Kinton's Knob 
of Wills Mountain, immixliately wtist of B(Hlford, and 
who was the g-reat-grandfather of Theodore Kinton, 
who liv(Ml, until his death id)out a year ago, at tlu^ 
old homestead near the bridge on the Glade pike) 
was horsemaster of a brig-adc; of the Pennsylvania 



18G Reminiscences and Sketches. 

forces, an office of no small importance, and requiring- a 
man of experience and executive ability, as most of the 
supplies were carried on pack horses. I have in my pos- 
session the roug'h copies of the muster roll made out by 
Thomas Kinton, horsemaster for the expedition of 1758, 
g-i^ing the names of the owners of the horses and the 
drivers and the brands on the horses. Thomas Kinton 
was also in command of a pack-horse brig-ade in Bou- 
quet's expedition in 1764. Among- the drivers of this 
latter expedition ai-e the names of John and Charles Sis- 
ney, who lived at Bhippensburg-, and are the ancestors of 
the numerous families of the name of Cessna now living- 
in this county. In 1758 Kinton resided in York county. 

Colonel Bouquet had land warranted in his name on 
Dunning's Creek in Bedford county. He must have 
spent in all a good deal of time at Fort Bedford. He 
commanded an expedition for the relief of Fort Pitt in 
1763, at the time of the Pontiac war, and foug-ht the bat- 
tle of Bushy Run, in Westmoreland comity, on the 5th 
and 6th of iVug'ust of that year. He also commanded an 
expedition against the Ohio Indians on the Musking"um 
in 1764. It is a pity that the name has not been perpet- 
uated by some local appellation. The next townships 
erected in the county ought to be called after Forbes and 
Bouquet. Bouquet died unmarried at Pensacola, Flor- 
ida, in September, 1765, at the age of fort 3^ -four years. 
He was then a brig-adier general c( )mmanding the British 
forces at that post. 

Thomas Kinton died in 1779, on his farm live miles 
Avest of Bedford. His will, dated February, 1777, was 
])roven March 16, 1779, and is recorded at Bedford in will 
book No. 1, pag^e 24. 



CHRONICLES OF BEDFORD. 



WILLIAM KREIGHBAUM. 



TTTILLIAM KEEIGHBAUM, born in 1771 in Berks 
comity ; died in 1866, in liis ninety -fifth year, in 
Bedford ; married in Centre county, where he at one time 
resided, to Miss Derry ; came to Bedford in 1807 ; was at 
first a cabinet-maker and afterwards a bridg-e-builder, car- 
penter and pump-maker. He did the carpenter work of 
the Dr. Hofius house built in 1811, and also of the old 
combined Reformed and Lutheran church, built a year 
or two later. He was for many years a member of the 
Methodist church and his mortal remains repose in the 
grave-yard connected with tliat church. 

Li his later years he followed pump-making- In 1854 
or 1855, when over eig-hty years of age, he was repairing 
a pumj) belong"ing to Nicholas Lyons on Richard street, 
near the house in which I lived. H(^ liad a larg-e chain, 
called a log-chain, and a heavy pole which he used as a 
lever, and had taken the boards off the platform and was 
raising- a large pump stock, big as a saw-log-, out of its 

(187) 



188 Renirniscetices and Sketches. 

place in order to g-et at the "sucker," as it was called. 
Two little girls, about eig-ht years of ag-e, my sister Nellie 
and Kate Taliaferro, were watching him out of the win- 
dow of the dining-room. "My! how strong- that old man 
is!" said one of them in my hearing as I passed through 
the room. " Yes," said the other, " he is so old ; the older 
a man gets the stronger he is." 

As I went out past the old man I said, "Mr. Kreigh- 
baum how old are you ? ' He replied, " I am in my eighty- 
sixth year;" and then I told him what the little girls in 
the window had said. "Ah!" he said, "when they grow 
older they will know better. I am far from being as 
strong as I once was." "But," I said, "you are wonder- 
fully well preserved for your years. How do you account 
for it? Have you lived a very careful life ? Did you ever 
drink whisky?" "Oh! yes," he said, "all my days when 
I felt like it." "Well, did you ever use tobacco? Did 
you chew or smoke?" "Yes," he said, "I did both." 
" Were you careful what you ate ?" " No, I always ate any- 
thing I liked." "Well," I said, remembering the old 
distich, 

Kaily to bed and early to rise. 

Makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise. 

and driven to a last resort to account in some wa}^ ac- 
cording to the ideas of hygienic philosophers for the old 
man's longevity and vigor, "how about your going early 
to bed and getting up early in the morning?" "Yes," he 
said, "I always did that." 

He was resolute, self-contained and clear-brained ; and 
had been a reader of his Bible and of other books, both 
Englisli and German. He was what was called a Penn- 
svlvania German. 



Chroiticles of Bvilfonl. 189 

He repaired a pump iii a house I owned which was oe 
cupied by Captain Deckerhoof. He was mounted on the 
spout and was fisliing- with a rope and hook for the lower 
"sucker," which ehided all his efforts, one cold morning-, 
when the Captain approaching- and commiserating- his 
old ag-e and patient efforts, offered to help him. "Do 
(jou follow pump-making- T said the old man. " No," said 
the Captain. "Well," said he, "I do, and one of the rules 
of pump-making is to mind your own business." 



ISAAC LIPPEL. 



A BOUT 1847 Isaac Lippel, a German Jew, came to 
Bedford and started the first clothing store of the 
place in an old frame building belong-ing to the estate of 
Dr. Watson, near the corner of Ricliard and Pitt streets, 
where McCuUoh Hall now stands. Soon after opening- 
he wanted a sig-ii, and went to John H. Bush, the painter, 
to g-et one made. He asked Bnsh what he would cdiarge. 
Bush replied: "x^ccording to the number of letters" — so 
much a letter. Lippel's knowledg't^ of Eng-lish was very 
limited. Bush said: "B" I paint your full name it will 
cost more than if I i>aint only the initial letter of the first 
nam(\" Lippel failing to understand, by way of explann. 
tion, Bush said: "W'ell, now, if your name was George 
Lippel it would cost you so much; Imt if 1 made it G. 
Lippel it would cost only so much," naming- a smaller 
sum. Lippel replied at once, his mind having grasped 
the idea of economy alone : " Make it G. Lippel. Make 



190 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



it ( J. Lippel." And so the sigri was painted: " G. Lippel. 
Oliea}) Clothing- Store." And Isaac Lip})el did business 
under it foi' years. 

But in the process of time there came to the town from 
Cumberland, Maryland, another son of Abraham, named 
Samuel Soneborn, who started a clothing- store on the 
corner just across the street from Lippel. Soneborn 
brought with him and placed over his door this sign : 
"Samuel Soneborns Cheap Clothing Store." Great was 
the rivalry between the Hebrews. They glowered at 
each other across the way, and each claimed to have the 
best and clieapest clothing. It was not long before Sone- 
born charged Lippel with doing business under a false 
sign. " His name ish Isaac,' said the namesake of the 
prophet, "und you cand spell Isaac mid ein she. Who 
ever heard of ein Shew named Shorge 1 He ish ein vraud 
und ein sheed, und does pisniss mid ein valse zine." 

In tht^ same neighborhood was a merchant of c-andies 
and cigars, who, in entire disregard of the rule of gram- 
mar which defines the fimction of the copulative conjunc- 
tion, did business under the sign: "A. L. Deiibaugh. 
Grocer and Confectionery." Defibaugh and Soneborn 
were sitting together in front of Defibaugh 's store one 
day. when the subject of Lippels sign was talked of, and 
Defibaugh said: "Soneborn, it seems to me that the less 
you say about Lippel's sign the better, because I see you 
^viite your name Soneborn, not Soneborn's. You have 
an " s " to the end of it on your sign ! How's tliat ? Sone- 
born looked at his sign and his counteiuuuH' fell. He 
(crossed the street disconsolate, in deep thought. Soon 
aftei- he was seen with a ladder and brush and paint, with 
which he painted out the final " s ' and the apostrophe. 



Chronicles of Bedford. 191 



But the letter was only obscured, not effaced. Throu^li 
the coat of paint there glimmered a ghostly apostrophe 
and letter ".s" which only made it more conspicuous and 
induced the inquiry which led to my knowing the history 
of the signs. 



CxENERAL BOWMAN AND THE BED- 
FORD "GAZETTE." 



XT is difficult to realize the chano-es that have taken 
place in newspai)ers within the last sixty years. I 
lately read over the tiles of papers published at Harris- 
burg: about 1820. All the editorial matter of a year 
would scarcely fill a sino-le side of one issue. There is no 
local neAvs, except the most measfre notices of marriages 
and deaths. Politics and public affairs and advertise- 
ments fill the whole sheet. The short personal notices 
and newsy coiTespondence that make up so much of a 
modern newspaper, are entirely wanting-. You cannot 
gather any idea of the social or home-life of the people 
of the day from anything contained in the papers. In 
this respect modern news]iapers are very different. The 
historian of the futm^e will be well supplied with mater- 
ials in the cuiTent files of newspapers. The only trouble 
will be a plethora of trivial minuti;e. The most petty 
and oftentimes private personal matters are hunted n\) 
and published, to the occasional annoyance of those who 
do not like publicity. In fact the newspaper pendulum 

(192) 



Gtiu-ral lUnrnmn nn.d tin- lialfunl Gazt',ihi. 1;K5 



lias swuno- to tlio other extreme. Still it must be con- 
fessed that the paper of to-day is a vast improvement on 
its predecessor, even of a much later period than that I 
started out to write about. And the improvement is not 
alone in the matter of news but in the comparative ab- 
sence of personal abuse. It is impossible for a middle- 
af»-ed man of to-day to conceive, unless l)y an actual read 
ino-, the deg-radation of the party politics of our fore- 
fathers. Sexag-enarians and septuag-enarians of Bedford 
county can have some conception of it by recalling- the 
Bedford Gazette, under General Bowman's regime, but 
even that, bitter as it was, was fully equaled by the polit 
ic;d papers of the state generally in 1820 and 1830, and 
by some ftnv of Bowman's contemporaries, as, for instance, 
the Carlisle Vobmteer. 

The Chronicle, published by Hamilton, calls the Repuh- 
lican, published by Peacock, by no other name than stink- 
pot. When Judg-e Franks, who was red-haired, was ap- 
pointed president judge by Governor Findlay, the Chron- 
icle, which was anti-Findlay, abused him with all manner 
of personal villification. Here are two specimens : 

"A visitor to the court-house may notice a man on the 
bench with a red head. It may do for a lawyer to be thus 
ornamented, because the advocate may at times be fiery 
and impetuous, but a redheaded judg-e is utterly out of 
l^lace — he ought to have his head shaved and wear a wig-. 
No man with a red head ever had a judicial temperament. 
It makes a man feel hot and choleric to look at him." 

Again : "Tlie alarm of fire to-day was caused by Judg-e 
Franks looking- out of tlje tvap-door near his chimney." 
What inci'cdiblc |)uerility : niid yet these ar<^ but fair spec- 
imens of tlic stvl<' of political eilitorship ot' tliat dav. 
13 



J94 licmliiisccnces anil Skcfches. 

(reneral Bowmnn assumed control of the B( Milord (ro- 
zeffe ill 1831 and conducted it for a quarter of a century. 
He, in many respects, was an admirable party leader, put- 
ting the whole party on a low plane, with nothing higli- 
toiic^d about it. The object jiarty success, the means to 
••ittain it, laudation of anything and anybody connected 
with the party, and indiscriminate condemnation, villifi 
cation and lidicule of everything connected with the ad- 
verse party. From this point of view he was a good 
party editor. His fealty to party was uiiHinching. He 
never doubted or ([uestioned its behests. Whatever the 
party did was right, whatever it condemned was wrong. 
Whoever was nominated for office by the Democrats was 
immaculately pure and praiseworthy ; whoever was nom 
tnated by the Wiigs was miprincipled and despicable. 
A\Qioever voted the Democratic ticket was wise and good, 
whilst the Whigs were all either knaves or fools. And 
this was not an assumed or pretended state of mind ; it 
was his real belief so far as one could judge. He was 
serious and ardent in his narrowness and bitterness, or 
seemed to be so. He never wanted office for himself — 
sought no nominations — had no other aspiration than the 
success of the party, was disinterested and profoundly 
in earnest and had the confidence and respect of the 
to^\alship leaders. 

For twenty -five years he led this life, when, in 1856, 
Buchanan made him public printer at Washington. Dur- 
ing the four years of his administration he accumulated 
in that office a handsome competency — said to have been 
$100,000. 

There then o(H*urred a singular change in his (career, 
which, if he was preAiously sincere, must havt^ resulted 



Gciwral Bowuum and tltc ih'dford (r(i?:rHc. \\)l 



from an entire transformation of his views. It was a 
(complete terg-iversation on his former life. He aban. 
doned politics entirely, and althoiig-h he lived a quarter 
of a century longer, dyino- in 1886, lie took no furthering 
terest in partisan politics. He retired to Carlisle, boug'ht 
a nice residence there and devoted himself t(^ the educa- 
tion of his children, and never return(Ml to Bedford ev(^n 
to visit, except once for a sing-le day or two. He seemed 
to have no connection with his old associatt^s— no desire 
ever to see them ag-ain^ — and to have disnussed them en- 
tirely from his recollection. The transmutation was as 
g-reat as that of Doctor Jekyl into Mr. Hyde. He led a 
most exemplary and quiet life, tlie precise converse of 
his Bedford existence. 



BLOODY RUN 



A BOUT fifteen years since the ancient name of Bloody 
-^^ Enii, which for more than a century had desig- 
nated the place of that village upon the map, and was 
kno^\Ti to thousands of travelers throughout this state 
and the west, was stricken out of existence, and that of 
Everett was substituted for it. The advent of a railroad 
had chang-ed the population so that alarg-e majority were 
new-comers, who had no respect for the historical associ- 
tion, and who disliked to be called by the dubious title of 
Bloody -Eunners, and so they thought that Edward Ever- 
ett's memory ought to be commemorated rather than the 
unknown travelers who were killed by the Indians many 
years ag-o, and whose blood had ensang'uined the water 
of the rivulet, and g-iven the \dllage the name. And at a 
borougfli election they voted for a change, and the court, 
no one objecting, for it seemed to be conceded, at least 
l^assively, that the majority of voters had a rig-ht to 
adopt a new name, decreed the change. Soon after I met 
that very remarkable old man, General Simon Cameron, 
who said to me: "Judg-e, why did you permit that name 

to be changed?" I replied -. " The people living there, by 

(1%) 



Mood I I linn. 197 



a Img-e majority, voted in favor of tlie chaiig-e3 and peti- 
tioned the court to decree it, and I supposed the major- 
ity oug-ht to rule." " No, sir," said he, " not at all I What 
hav(^ th(\y to do with it? Wliat right have they to make 
m(^. and tens of thousands of other people all over the 
country revise our knowledge of geography and learn a 
new name ? Besides, the old name commemorated an in- 
cident on the early history of the county. If I had been 
judge I never would have permitted it." "Nor would I, 
General," I replied, "if you had been in court and sug- 
g(^sted what you have just stated." Un(iuestionably it 
was a mistake. I have reg-retted it ever since. There 
would be as much joopriety in changing- the name of 
Bunker Hill. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE SIX 

TEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT 

OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



n^HE district was constituted by an act of assembly 
approved the 29tli of March, 1824, and was com- 
posed of the coimties of Franklin, Bedford and Somerset. 
The Governor was authorized to ap])oint a president 
judg'e. The terms of coui't, as fixed by this act, Avere for 
Franklin, second Mondays of January, April, Aug-ust and 
November, to ccmtinue two weeks if necessary: 

For Bedford, fourth Mondays of Januarj^ April, Au- 
o'ust and November, to continue one week : 

For Somerset, the Mondays following tljose in the 
county of Bedford. 

John Andrew Shultze was then Cxovernor. He ap])ointed 
and commissioned John Tod, Esq., of Bedford, as presi. 
dent judg-e of the district. 

Judge Tod presided until the 28th of May, 1827. He 
was then appointed a judge of the Supreme Court to suc- 
ceed John Bannister Gibson, \^ ho had, on the tenth of 
that month, been appointed cliief justic(^ in place of Chief 
Justice Tilghman, deceased. 

(19K) 



Sketch of tlie Si.rfcr.u/// Judicial Dislrid. li)9 

Jiid^e Tod was born and reared in Conuecrticut and was, 
I believe, a g'raduate of Yale College. He came to Bed- 
ford in the year 1800. He tau^Lt school for a year or 
two and was admitted to the bar in 1808. He was a 
Democrat in politics, and was, to a c^'rtain extent, ostra- 
cised socially by the persons who then claimed to lead 
and o'ive tone to society in Bedford, who were Federalists. 
He was postmaster in 1805 and served as clerk and at- 
torney to the comity commissioners in 1805, 1806 and 
1807, and represented Bedford county in the House of 
Hepresentatives of Pennsylvania from 1810 to 1813, and 
was twice speaker of the House. He also seiwed a term 
in the Senate of Pennsylvania and was speaker of tlie 
Senate in the sessions of 1814 and 1815. He after- 
wards served a term in Cong-ress. He was, for many 
years, the leadino- lawyer of the Bedford bar, and was 
painstaking-, methodical and industrious. He resided, 
for a number of years, i]i the weather-boarded log house 
which yet stands on the public square opposite the court 
house and is now owned by M. A. Points, Esq. Judg-(^ 
Tod died in March, 1830, aged fifty years, and is biu'ied 
in the Presbyterian gi-aveyard at Bedford. He was mai-- 
ried to Miss Hanna, of Harrisburg, and left three cliihb-eii, 
(iaug"hters, one of whom married Judge Samuel Gilmore, 
another John H. Brig-gs, Esc)., of Harrisburg, and the 
third Mr. KeiT, of Harrisburg. 

His opinions as a judge of the Supreme Court are found 
in the 16th and 17th volumes of Sergeant ^ Rawles ll(^- 
ports, and in 1st and 2d Rawle. 

He was a public-spiritcMl citi/(3n and was largely in- 
strumental in rex)airing' the Bedford water works al)out 
the year 1824, and in bringing in the water from the 



200 Iiemini.s(:t.ii(-('.s and Sketches. 

sjjriiig- that is located (Jii tlie hill above the house now oc- 
cupied by Mr. Peck, ou the Bedford Springs proj^erty. 
The pipes used were pine logs, and the water was free to 
all from several running- pumps located in different parts 
of the villag-t^ 

It is said that young- Tod came to Bedford Avithout a 
shilling', carrying his pack upon his back — that he pledged 
his only pair of silk stockings for his supper, lodging and 
breakfast, at the tavern at Bloody Run the night before 
iiis arrival. Those were the days of knee-breeches and 
silk stockings on dress occasions. 

He kf-j»t a precise and minute accoruit of his receipts 
and expenditures monthly. When I was reading law, in 
the year 1848, his papers, which had been in a case in the 
commissioners' office, were moved into the entry of the 
court house and became scattered about. I remember to 
have picked uj) one of his account books of the year 1810, 
or thereabouts, which showed that many of his profes- 
sional fees were one and tw( > and three dollars, and it was 
only now and then, and rather rarely, that he got a fee of 
ten dollars. 

An illustration of how soon the memory of a man of 
proiriinence and importance in his day and generation 
fades out and becomes almost entirely obscured, occurred 
in Bedford three or four years ago, in coiniection wdth 
the name of Judge Tod. A stranger inquired at the hotels 
and stores and houses generally in the center of the toAvn, 
and of the persons whom he met on the streets, wliei-e he 
could find the grave of Judge Tod. He was unable to 
find an individual who knew that sucli a person had ever 
livcui in Bedford, or who had ever heard of him at all. 

Judge Tod was succeeded by Alexander Thom})son 



Sketch of the Sixtvenih Judicial District. 201 

who presided ms judge from Aui^ust, 1827, till Novembe)-, 
1841. Judg-e Thompson w;is admitted to practice at Bed- 
ford in 1817, and resided for somc^ years in Bedford. 
Prior to his admission to the bar he was a teacher of hm- 
g-uages in the Bedford Classical Academy . He also served 
two terms in Congress just before his a])i3ointment to 
tiie bench. He died at Chambersburg in 1847, and is 
l)uried there in the beautiful graveyard of the Falling 
Sj)ring Presbyterian church, on the banks of the Cono- 
cocheague — the Westminster Abbey of Chambersburg. 

He was twice married. His first wife was a Miss Cul- 
])ertson and his second wiie Miss Jane Graham, a daughter 
of General Graham, of Stoystown, Somerset county. And 
he was the father of Dr. Thompson, of Frostburg, Maryland, 
latel}^ deceased, and of Frank Thompson, vice president 
( )f the Pennsylvania railroad, and of Dr. William Thomp- 
son, of Philadelphia. 

Judge Thompson's term expired (mider the limitation 
of the constitution of 1838) on the 1st of January, 1842. 
He was succeeded by Jeremiah Sullivan Black, of Somer- 
set, who was nominated by Governor David R. Porter 
;ind confirmed by the Senate in January, 1842. He pre- 
sident as judge until 1852. 

Judge Black was born the lOtli of January, 1810, on the 
farm (^f his father, Henry Black, situated about eight 
miles east of Somerset, so that he was nearly thirty -two 
years of age at the time of hisapyxnntment. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar at Somerset in 1881, and at Bedford in 
1832. He difiered from his father in politics. His father 
was a. Federalist ajid aftcii-wards a Wdiig. , He was elet^ted 
judge of the Sujjreme Court in the fall of 1851, along 
with John Bannister Gibs<m. Ellis Lewis. Walter Lowrie 



202 Reiaini'Sceni'ts and Sketches. 



and Richard Coulter; ;dl Democrats, (^xcept ('Oultcr, who 
was a Whi*^-. 

This ch^ctiou was by virtu«^ of the chancre in the consti- 
tution in 1850, which made the judiciary elective. Under 
the constitution of 1790 judges were appointed by the 
Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and held office 
for life, if they so lon^- behaved themselves well, (hi,itiJ>ene 
(je.sseret, as the commission ran. The constitution of 1838 
limited the term to fifteen years, but did not make the 
office elective. The amendment of 1850 made the judi- 
ciary elective. In 1851 a full bench was elected, and they 
were to decide their terms by lot : one was to g"0 out 
(^very three years. Judge Black drew the short term and 
immediately be(;ame chief justice. 

Judg'e Black was reelected to the supreme bench in 
1854, for a term of fifteen years. He resig-ned March 4, 
1857, to g"o into President Buchanan's cabinet as Attorney 
General. 

His oi:>inions as judg-e of the Supreme Court are found 
in the Pennsylvania State Reports from 4th Harris to 5th 
Casey. 

As a master of clear, strong-, concise Eng-lish he had 
no superior on tht^ bench. Judge Lewis and he differed 
and disliked each other. Judg-e Woodward, who suc- 
ceeded Gibson on the bench in 1852, took sides with 
Lewis, while Black was supported b>' Lowrie and Knox 
(who had succeeded Coulter). 

It was probably because of this unpleasantness that 
131ack left the su})reme bench, for which he seemed to be 
so well suited, and went into Buchanan's cabinet. 

His suc^cessor as president judg-e was Francis Marion 
Kimmell, of Somerset, who was elected by tln^ people in 



ISketcli of the Sixteenth Judicial District. 203 



th(3 fall of 1851. Mr. Kimm^^ll had been a Wiiig- pr.'or to 
the time of this canvass. Wni. Lyon, of Bedford, w.stlie 
Whig- nominee. Somerset county revolted from the -loni- 
ination and Mr. Kimmell was supported as an independ- 
ent candidate by the Democrats, who made no nomina- 
tion, and by the Whififs of Somerset, and was elected by a 
consideral )le maj ority . 

He was admitted to the bar at Somerset in 1840, and at 
Bedford in 1841. He liad previously to his admission 
been clerk in the recorder's office, his father being- the re- 
corder. He was born at Berlin, in Somerset county, in 
1817, and was thirty -four years of ag-e when he went upon 
the bench. He served one term of ten years, and at the 
expiration of his term located at Chambersburg-, in the 
practice of the law, where he has resided since. As an 
advocate he has few superiors. His fine personal aj^pear- 
ance and well modulated and silvery-toned voice make 
him a very attractive orator. He enjoys a larg-e practice 
and is one of the few lawyers who have succeeded at the 
bar after having- been upon the bench. 

Judg-e Kimmell and Judge Black were brothers-in-law, 
having- married sisters, daug^hters of Chauncey Forward, 
an eminent lawyer of Somerset, Pa. 

Judg-e Kimmell was succeeded b}^ James Nill, of Cham- 
bersburg-, who was elected in 1861 as a Re|)ublican, de- 
feating- Wilson Beilly, the Democi'atic nominee. He died 
in 1864, and is buried at Chambersburg-. He was a pains 
taking-, careful lawyer, and an honest judg-e, but was W(>11 
advanced in years when he went upon the bench, so that 
his natural force was abated V)y ag-e. 

Alexander King- was elected his successor in 1864, de- 
feating Judg(^ Kimmell, the Democrntic nomine*', and 



204 Ileininlscenci's and Skefchr.s. 

(IhmI ill Jaiiujiry, 1871, and is buried in tlic ct'iiit^terv at 
Bedford. He was born in Hiuitingdon county, Pa., in 
1805, was educated at the Huntingdon Academy, nnidlaAv 
at Huntiiiii'don, and was acbnitted to the bar at Bedford 
in 1824, and was tifty-nint^ years of aij-e when he went 
upon the bench. He was a well-read lawyer of clear and 
stroiii^- logical mind, and c-onimand(Hl the respect and 
estt^em of the public. His son and namesake is a prom- 
inent and successful lawyer at the B(^dford bar. 

The business of the district having increascnl, and un- 
disposed-of cases having- accumulated, an act was passcnl 
in 18G8 authorizing- an additional law judg-e. David 
Watson Rowe, of Chambersburg-, was elected to this posi- 
tion in 1868, defeating \\\\\. J. BaiM-, the Democratic nom- 
inee. Judg-e Rowe was born at Greencastl(\ Franklin 
county, Pa., in 1837. He served as lieutenant-colonel of 
the 126th Pa. reg'iment in the niiu^ months' service of 
the war for the suppression of the rebellion. 

William Maclay Hall succeeded Judg-e King- as presi- 
dent judg-e, by appointment of Governor Geary, in Jan- 
uary, 1871, and was elected by the people for a full term 
in tlu^ fall of that year, defeating \\ ni. J. Baer, the Dem- 
ocratic nominee. Judge Hall was born at LeAvistown, 
Pa., Novc^mber 3, 1828, g-raduated at Marshall College, 
Mercersburg, Pa., in 1846, read law at Bedfoid, and was 
admitted to the bar in August, 1849. 

In 1874 the district was divided; Franklin and Fulton 
countless (this latter erected out of Bedford in 1851) were 
constituted into a separate judicial district, numbered 
tlie thirty-ninth, of which Judge Howe became the presi- 
dent judg-e under the provisions of the constitution of 
1S73. Judt;-e Hall retained the sixte<'nth district, com- 



Hb'i'h of the Sixteenth ,Ju<U<'ml Dislrid. 205 



|)()S(h1 of the counties of Bedford and Sonierst't. His 
term expired the first of Jjinnary, 1882. 

He was succeeded by William Jacob Baer, of SouK^r- 
set, the present incumbc^nt, who def(;ated John C(;ssna, 
the Republican nominc^e. Judge Baer was born in 
Brothers' Valley township, Somersc^t county, in 1826, and 
was admitted to the l)ar at Somers<^t in May, 1849. H(^ 
had l)een for many years prior to his election as judg-e 
(^ne of the leading- lawyers of the Somerset bar, and was 
noted as a public-spirited citizen who aided much in tlie 
improvemtnit of Somerset county. He was a member of 
the constitutional convention in 1873. 

It is a noteworthy fact that Judg-es Black, Kimni(41 and 
Baer were born within a circuit of three miles, and that 
they all rose from the; middle walks of life, without cc^l- 
legiate education. 

Prior to 1824 Bedford county was, from the year 180r), 
a part of the Fourth judicial district, composed of the 
counties of Mifflin, Centre, Huntingdon and Bedfoi-d, 
by virtue of an act passed February 24, 1806. From 1818 
to 1824, Charles Huston, of Bellefonte, was ])resident 
judge of the Fourth district. He afterwards ])(H'am<> a 
judge of the Su]u-em(^ Court. He and Judge > Burnside, 
wlio also lived at Belh^fontc^ and who succeeded liim as 
president judge and who aft(^rwards became a supreme 
jud<j-e, were maiTied to sisters, and liatcnl each other cor- 
( bally. 

Before Judge Huston, .Jonatlian Hoge Walkei' })resided 
as judge of the Fourtli district. He was bom in East 
Penns])or()' townshi]), Cumlx^rland county. Pa., in 1756, 
and was educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., then 
a Presbyterian institution, and graduated in 1787, and 



206 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



read law with Stephen Duncan, of Carlisle, father of 
Thomas Duncan, a juclge of the Supreme Court. He 
marri(xl Mr. Dun(%an's daug^hter, Lucre tia, and settled at 
Northumberland, Pa., where he beg'an the practice of the 
law. On the formation of the Fourth judicial district, in 
1806, he was appointed judge, and moved to Belief onte, 
and afterwards to Hunting-don, and hnally to Bedford, 
about the year 1810. He lived in the house now occupied 
as a, hotel by Valentine Steckman, on West Pitt street. Li 
1818 he was ap})ointed, by President Monroe, jud«-e of the 
United States District Court for western Pennsylvania, 
and w^ent to Pittsburgh, in which office he continued until 
his death, in 1824, at Natchez, Miss., where he was on a 
visit to his son. He was the father of Eobert James 
Walker, ITnited States Senator from Mississippi, and Sec- 
retary of the Treasury in President Polk's administration. 
Judg-e Walker was six feet four inches tall, and his wife 
was unusually short of stature, so that in walking- tog-ether 
she had to reach up to take his arm. A grand-daughter 
of Judge Walker, and daughter of Robert J. Walker, was 
married to Benjamin H. Brewster, late Attorney General of 
the United States. Wiilst on the bench at Bedford, 
Judge AValker read in open court a very singular letter 
of apology addressed to Jacob Bonnett, and ordered it t<^ 
be entered of record. It is found in the case of the Com- 
monwealth V. Jacob Bonnett and Isaac Bonnett, in quar- 
ter sessions docket No. 3. Noveml)er sessions, 1808, and 
is one of the curiosities of legal literature. In the Bed- 
ford Gazette of 1806 and 1807 are published, by request 
of tlie foremen of the grand jury, long, verbose, dry 
and uninteresting charges to the grand jury made by 
Judge Walker. One is mainly on the subject of duelling. 



Skefch of the Sixteenth Judicial /district. 207 



Some of them are six or eight cohimns \oi\g, and must 
have taken two hours to read. 

Under the act of 1806, president judf>es were paid 
$1,600 per annum. This sahiry was afterwards increased 
to $2,000, and since the war to $3,500, and finally to $4,000. 
This increase is apparent rather than real, the purchasing- 
|)ower of the salary of $4,000 does not exceed that of 
$1,600 in 1806. 

The first law jud^^e who presided in Bedford county 
was James Riddle, of Chambersbui'g-, who Avas appointed 
under the constitution of 1790. 

Special courts have been held in Bedford at different 
times by Judg-t^ Gilmore of Fayette county, Judg-e Fisliei- 
of York county, Judges Ewing and White of Pittsburgh, 
and Judge Orvis of Centre county. 

The Supreme Court of the state sat at Bedford on tlie 
lltli of August, 1855, for the argument of the celebrated 
case known as the Passmore-Williamson case, which was a 
writ of habeas corpus to determine the legahty of the com- 
mitment of Williamson,by Judge Kane of the United States 
District Court of Philadelphia, tor neglect to produce the 
body of Jane, a colored woman claimed as a slave by Col- 
onel Wheeler, of North Carolina. The case was argued 
by Charles Gilpin and William M. Meredith for the peti- 
tioner, and is reported in 2 Casey, page 9. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN MEETING- 
HOUSE. 



TTTHAT constitutes real history? Not o-reat events 
alone. Is it not rather the home life, the saying-s 
and doing-s and surroundings of individuals : their rival- 
ries, and quarrels, and amusements, and witticisms, and 
sarcasms; their mechanical and professional pursuits: 
their erection of houses and fulling mills, and grist and 
saw mills, and school houses, and barns; their party or- 
ganizations and political meetings ; their church build- 
ings and church life ; their shooting matches, and sleigh- 
ing parties, and militia musters ; their births and mar 
riages and deaths ; their removal to other localities, and 
how they prospered, and what descendants they left? 
Wlio built the different houses in Bedford, and Everett, 
and Schellsburg, and of the county generally, and who 
have lived in them '. Who were the earliest settlers in 
the townships, and where did they come from ? Who 
cleared out the different farms ? AMiat incidents broke 
the monotony of the lives of our predecessors? 

All this would make interesting reading. The ordin- 
ary course of human lives is mad(^ up of little matters, 

(208) 



Pi 'vsbyic t -ian Meet iiuj- ilo use . 201) 

and it is these that oug-ht to be recorded by the his 
toriau. They make the details of the picture, which, 
without them is a dry and uninteresting outline. The 
iiewspap(?rs of the past t^i-ave but a meag-re supply of 
local news, and the real life of our predecessors is hard 
to o-et at. 

Just sixty-two years Sigo the Presbyterian '" Meeting 
House" (it wasn't called " church " in those days) on the 
public square in Bedford, was built. Among- some old 
papers which were about to be committed to the thiitK^s 
as useless, I lately found the list of subscribers to tlic; 
fund for its erection. It contains the names of one hun- 
cb-ed and eig-hteen contributors in sums rang-ing- from 
one up to one hundred dollars. They are all dead now 
but one. Major Daniel Washabaug"h. This list is worthy 
of preservation. 

We, the imdersigned. do hereby agree to pay the sum by us hereto 
subscribed, to those who may V)e authorized to receive the same, for 
the i)urpose of erecting a new Presbyterian Meeting House in the 
borough of Bedford, on the lot whereon tlie old Meeting House now 
stands, or any situation that a majority of the congregation may 
agree upon. 

It is understood and agreed upon by the undersigned that the use 
of the Meeting House to be erected shall be free to all denominations 
of Christians, and that clergymen passing through and visiting Bed- 
ford shall be allowed to preach in said Meeting House, when it shall 
not interfere with the engagements of the regular pastor, more than 
one sermon of each Sabbath. 

It is also agreed upon that a majority of the contributors to the 
erection of said church shall direct the principles on which a charter 
is to be obtained. 

It is also agreed that the materials of the old Meeting House be 
used toward erecting the new one. as far as the building committee 
shall think proy)ei\ and the same shall be valued, and after deduct- 
ing the old debt therefrom, the pew-holders in the old Meeting 
House shall be allowed their proportion of the l)alance ot the value 
thereof as a credit for pews they may buy in the riev/ Meeting House, 
14 



210 



Rtntmiscences and Sketch 



when ('(>ni{)let(Ml, and tliat subscril)ers shall also hv allowed a cK-dil 
\'ov their respective subscriptions. 

And, lastly, it is understood that if twelve hundred dollars is not 
subscribed by solvent persons within one year IVoni tlie date hereof, 
our subscriptions hereto are to be void and of no effect : but at any 
time within one year from this time, if the said twehc hundred dol- 
lars are subscribed, as aforesaid, we agree to pay the amount of our 
subscriptions in cash when rec^uired : 

.lohn Tod, $100 t'harles McDowell $."><) 

Abraham Kerns, 100 David Coy le. 10 

J. S. Morrison 100 (xeorge Kspy. '2") 



Job Mann 

H. Dillon, 

G. K\ H. Davie-s 

IMiilip r. Williams, . . . 

S. M. Barclay, 

Thomas Rea 

,Iohn Kean, 5 

John Reynolds 40 

William Reynolds. .... 60 

.lohn Miller 10 

A. Thompson, 20 



.>0 
2") 
2.") 

2:> 



Solomon Filler 


. . 25 


Samuel Davidson, . . 


. 10 


Henrv Hoblitzell, . , . 


. . o 


James Blayler, .... 


. . :? 


C. A. Osterloh 


. . :> 


,Tohn Loy 


. . 5 


<Termau 


. . 3 


Jacob Ripley, 


2 


.loseph Hunt, 


. . 5 


.leremiah Jourdon, . . 


2 


William Anders<m, . . 


. . 1 


William Room. .... 


. . 1 


(Jerman 


2 


Samuel Waters, .... 


. . 1 


W. Reynolds, Jr., . . . 


. . o 


Joseph Hammer, . . . 


. . 10 


Samuel Blackwood, . . 


. . 20 


.Tames Ivea 


. . 20 


David Scott 


. . 10 


Jacob Fletcher 


. . 10 


N. P. Fetterman, . . . 


. . 10 



.lohn Bridaham. 
William Piper. . 
F. B. Murdoch. . 
William Bowman. 
Thonuis R. (rettys 



.John Piper 20 

Andrew J. Kline 

William Fletcher. .... 
Samuel Vondersmith, . . 

James G. DiUou 

Peter Schell 

Elijah Adams 

Henry Williams 

David r.ybarger 

George Claar 

.lohn D. Snider 

C. Herring 

John A. Blodgett, .... 

William Stahl 

.John Claar 

Michael Reimund. . . . 

David Robl), 

Arthur l\ea, 

Solomon Reimund, . . . 

.Iose])h Woll'. 

John G. Martin. .... 

John Arnold 

Samuel Brown 

.bdiii Pritchard 

Thomas II. McElwee. . , 

William Lyon 

.John Kinton 



10 



Presbyterian Meeting- Ho use. 



211 



Henry Scovil, 10 

Simon Kinton, 2 

James Mitchell, ..... 10 

Richard Silver, 10 

r). Washabangh, ..... 3 

John King, 5 

James Simpson, ...... 1 

(leorge Hnnt, I 

Benjamin Gibbony, .... 2 

Solomon Metzger, 1 

John Wishart, 5 

Aaion Dillon, 1 

John Williams, o 

(rcorge Pilling, 1 

Adam Holiday, 3 

Samnel Jordan, 3 

Samuel Tate, 3 

John Clark, 5 

Emanuel Statler, 3 

Peter I^evy, 2 

A. McVicker, 2 

Peter Kagg, 2 

Martin Reilly, 10 

W. .1. Dobbin 5 



Thomas Hunt, . . . 
William Todd, . . . 
James M. Russell, . . 

German, 

Miss Abbie Johnston, 
J. C. McLanahan, . . 
James A. Anderson, . 
David Lucas, . . . 
Daniel Wisegarver. . 
Daniel McKinley, . . 
Joseph Coulter, . . 
David Mann, Jr., . . 
John Silver, . . . 
Peter Shoenberger, 
Jacob BarndoUar. . . 

J. Mury 

Adam Ridenbaugh. . 
James Taylor, . . . 
Michal Reed, . . . . 
C'harles Dannaker, 
Jiichard Ewalt, . . . 
Andrew Metzger. . . 

ii. McKee 

A friend 



Total, $1,355 

P»KDFORD, February 18, 1828. 

When the Meeting- House was building-, Jackson was 
tunning- for President, and all the men in Bedford sup- 
ported him but eig"ht, who were for Adams. Among- 
these eig-ht was Daniel Crouse, who died a few years 
since in his ninety-third year. His descendants, to the 
third g^eneration, yet live in our comminiity. Mr. Crouse, 
then in the prime of manhood, was possessed of wonder- 
ful stn^ng-th and ag^ility, and of indomitable c-ourag-e. 
The Jju-kson men had (erected a small hickory ])<)le on 
the i^ublic square. Li broad daylight, with no conc^cal- 
ment, but with an open avowal of his purpose, and in the 
presen(;e of divers persons, Mr. Orous(\ single-handed 



212 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



and alone, armed with an ax, went to the pole and eut it 
down, put the butt end on his shoulder, and dragged it 
to a neighboring- wood pile and cut it into pieces. He 
was saluted with a shower of brick-bats, which the Jack- 
son men got at the Presbyterian Meeting House, but no 
man dared to come in direct personal contact with him. 



DFXORATION DAY- AN ADDRESS. 



TDATPtlOTISM is a virtue absolutely essential to a con- 
tinuation of national life. A cowardly and selfish 
l)eople, unwilling- to make personal sacrifices to maintain 
the national honor, cannot long- endure. All history dem- 
onstrates this. 

Love of home, of kindred, of wife and children, and 
father and mother, and sister and brother, these are noble 
impulses — sacred passions implanted by a beneficent Cre- 
ator in the human heart to add to man's happiness and 
conduce to his welfare. 

But the time comes occasionally when love of country 
rises above all other duty and calls upon citizens to for- 
sake all the pleasant surroundings of home, all the en- 
dt^-aring- ties of friendship and love, and g-o forth to war — 
war that bringrs with it exposure, and fatig-ue, and disease, 
jind wounds, and starvation, and imprisonment, and 
agony, and death ; that fills the land with mourning- and 
desolates th(^ face of nature. 

When ni(^n olxn^ the hig-h call of patriotism, and sacri- 
fice their lives for the public g-ood in a necessary and just 
war to defend the national life, that the; g-overnment 



214 lienmiisceMces and Sketches. 



founded b>' our fatliers may descend to our children and 
our children's children to the latest posterity, that, in the 
lang-uag-e of President Lincoln, the government of the 
people, by the people, for the people, may not perish 
from the earth, it is but little that the sur\ivors can do 
towards paying the debt of gratitude we owe the dead. 
Their widows and orphans can l)e taken care of, and their 
graves can be decked with flowers. In the pleasant spring- 
time, when the earth has put on her soft robes of green 
and the God-given flowers have opened so beautifully 
around us, and all nature is instinct with life and beauty, 
we can annually assemble to recall to memory their noble 
deeds. It may oi' it may not be kno\\^l to them, what we 
do liere to-day. Wlio can tell? Their disembodied 
spirits may be cognizant of our doings, and our memorial 
services may rise like grateful inc^ense to the domain in 
which they now dwell. But whether this is so or not, 
we owe it to ourselves to keep alive this custom. 

AMio can say what demands the future holds, or how 
soon the nation may have cause again to test the patriot- 
ism of her sons? If patriotism be a virtue necessary to 
national life, it must be fostered and encouraged and in- 
stilled into the minds of the people. Tlie rising gener 
ation in boyhood and young maidiood, must cultivate mar- 
tial ardor and love of country. Deeds of bravery and 
<-ourage, and fortitude and lieroism, should be commended 
in song and story, and men everywhere should learn to 
know and feel that a brave and honorable death is bettei- 
than an ignobh?, cowardly and selfish, life : that the gal 
lant soldier who rises above the narrow view of self -ease 
and safety, and goes foi'th to batth) for his country's wel- 
fare, is worthy of the highest regard and veneration : and 



Dccoratioii Day — An Address. 215 



that the memory of the dead should abide forever in the 
hearts of the hving', that th(ur descendants for o-enera- 
tions may feel a pride in their ancestry, an elevating" and 
ennobling pride that father or grandfather, or uncle or 
granduncle died in the war for the Union. Such a le<^acy 
is worth more than gold. No wealth can i)urc-hase it, no 
bieath of misfoitune take it away. It is invalual)le; it is 
imperishable. 

We have assembled to-day to commemorate their deeds; 
to recall the names of the soldier dead who lie buried in 
< )ur cemeteries, and with martial music to deck their last 
resting places with Howers. It is a sad but beautiful cere- 
moni;d. They perished like tlowers cut down untimely, 
in the prime and beauty of young manhood. 

There are others that we cannot thus honor. Some lie 
in unknown graves on distant battle-fields; some died 
from starvation in the horrid prison pens of the south, and 
fill the trenches of unmarked misery. Their very fate 
<;an only be surmised. No kindly hand strews flowers 
over their remains. 

There are others still, who yet move about among us 
with a wooden leg or an empty sleeve, sad living monu 
ments of devastating war ; and some with shattered (;on 
stitutions drag out the remnant of their days. To provider 
for all such is the Nation's solemn duty. 

War is destruction. It is essentially barbarous and cruel. 

Disguise it as we will, try to soften and refine it as you 

ma3^ throw around its conduct all the restraining influence 

civilization and humanity can sugg-est, and it yet remains 

hoiTid wai'! 

"Oil Will-, what Hit thou? 
After the l>riirlil<'st 1iiuini)h what remains 



216 lieminiscenres and Sketches. 



Of all tliy irlories? Wlien the song of <l('ai-bough1 joy 

Salutes the victor's ear and sootlies his ])ri«le. 

How is the grateful harmony profaned 

By the sad dissonance of virgin's cries 

Who mourn their lovers slain ! Of matrons hoar 

Who clasp their withered hands and fondly ask 

Their slaughtered sons ! 

How is the laurel's verdure stained with blood. 

And wet with widows' tears?" 

God never designed that men should slaug-hter each 
other. His benevolence and beneficence are infinite. 
"Wars, like other human ills, are man-made ; there is noth- 
ing- in the Divine constitution of human affairs that makes 
them necessar3\ If individuals and nations governed 
their conduct by the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount, 
men would beat their swords into ploughshares and their 
spears into pruning-hooks, and would learn war no more. 
The world is growing gray with age, and yet this nine- 
teenth century of the Christian era is still sadly full of 
cruelty and wrong. It must be possible that, in the ulti- 
mate progress of the human race, some tribunal can be 
established to settle human disputes without this horri- 
ble relic of barbarism, this cruel idtima ratio recfivm, 
which has so long desolated the earth. 

Wliat a spectacle Christian Europe presents to-day 1 
The whole object of national organization and government 
on the continent, is that the masses may toil in ignorance 
and poverty to support large disciplined armies, ready at 
any moment to slaughter each other in battle ; to preserve 
the so-called balance of pow( 'v. Throw the balance of powei- 
and the whole brood of kings and nobles to the dogs 
rather than maintain them at such a price of toil and 
blood. And this very war of ours, this wiping-out of 
slavery, this forgiveness and reconciliation and restora- 



I >tvo ration Day — An Addrt(>s. 217 



tiou of the Union, are a long- step forwjiid in the rig-ht 
(hiection. 

Of all people we are most happily situated in this re- 
.ij;:u'(l. We need no standing" army except a nominal one. 
( )ur g-overnment rests on justice and public opinion. Our 
citizen soldiers, intellig-ent and courag-eous and inspired 
l)y love of country, have ever been ready to respond to 
all just demands ui)on their patriotism. 

The advice of Pohniius to his young friend is as g-ood 

for nations as for individuals : 

■ Beware of entrance to a quarrel ; but, being in. 
Carry thyselt that thine opponent may beware of thee." 

Thus has it ever been with our nation : thus may it ever 
be. It is only in self-defense, as a dernier resort, that 
either men or nations have a rig-ht to take u]3 arms. 

We have rid ourselves of the fearful wrong- of African 
slavery. It was, to some extent, a national sin, and we 
liave paid a national penalty. It was more particularly 
a sin of the south, and they liave suffered the more se- 
verely. Wlien the culture of cotton became profitable in 
the hands of an olig-arch}^ of slave-holders, they departed 
from the faith of our forefathers that slavery was a wrong: 
to be g-radually done away with as soon as it could be 
accomplished with safety, and came to reg-ard it as an in- 
stitution to be perpetuated and extended. 

It was because of their fear that their peculiar institu- 
tion was in peril, that they rebelled ag-ainst the election 
of Lin(M)ln, and inaug-urated the war. 

The Almighty Disposer of events interfered by a won- 
derful series of providences to thwart their iniquity, and 
the great wrong- was wiped out in a delug-e of blood. 

We are happily rid of it. We have paid the penalty 



218 Beminwce'iiccs avd Skcfvlics. 



vvliicli, with nations as with individuals, always follows 
the infrac^tion of divim> law, and our nation is once ag^ain 
prosperous and happy. No portentous clouds are lower- 
ing", the skies are serene, and white-winged ])eace hovers 
protectingly over the entire' land. Long may it so con- 
thiue. And yet if the time does come that we are com- 
pelled to embark in a just and necessary war, may our 
young- men always respond with ]iatriotisni to their 
country's call. 

Meantime let us treasure the memory of oui' dead, and 
with every recurring- spring deck their hallowed resting- 
places with beautiful flowers. May the time when an- 
other war comes to crowd out their memories by other 
martial deeds be long- postponed. 

We can best exhibit our appreciation of the dead and 
of the sacrifice they made, hy preserving- pure and free 
the institutions and the g-overnment they died to main- 
tain, by discharg-ing- our duty as citizens and voters in- 
tellig-ently and from a conviction of duty. Doubtless 
party org-anizations are necessary and ju-ojier, as a means 
to an end. But the welfare of })art3^ must not rise above 
the welfare of the state. Party leaders cultivate partisan- 
ship for their own personal aggraiidisement. The real 
future peril to c^ur country is from corrupt party ring-s. 
W<^ need statesmen looking- to tlit^ g-eneral ]iul)lic g-ood, 
and not partisans who care only for the success of party, 
and hold to the detestable doctrine that the end justifies 
tlit^ means — the end to l)e attained party success, the 
means, the division of offices and power among the ring-. 
The maxim, to the victors belong- the spoils, is full of 
dang-er to the ilepublic. The pressing need of the times 
is its utter extermination and destruction. 



Decoration Day -An Address. '219 



Unfortunately such partisans hold hig-h places in hoth 
])olitical parties. Virtue resides in the hearts ol the 
masses of both parties, but too often they are boui;d by 
])arty cliques and set-uj) conventions that fail to consult 
and reo-jird the popular will, and h^ave the peox)le im- 
potent to control by their votes, having- really no choice 
except to vot(^ for the nominee with whose selection they 
had nothing- to do. The vice and weakness of our sys- 
tem seems to lie just here. 

All republics whose wrecks strew the pathw^ay of time, 
1 lave perished from the retention of power by magistratt^s 
and cliques ag-ainst the will of the people. Li this mat 
ter eternal vig-ilance is the price of liberty. The smalh^st 
I )eg-inning-s must be w^atched and g"uarded ag-ainst . A\ 1 1 e 1 1 
th(^ trickling- stream first washes over the embankun^nt. 
a few shovels-full of earth will check it; neglectcnl, tlw 
break becomes a chasm, the streamlet an irresistible toi- 
rent, sweeping destruction over tln> land. 

No ring within a party has a right to dictate nomina 
tions. There must be no party olig-archy. The whole 
jjarty must be consulted and freely indicate its choice. 
Any otlnn- course is treason to party and immensely pe'r- 
ilsome to the general weal. Wlien ;i party cannot free 
itself from the yoke of a ring excey)t by revolution, revo 
lution is a solemn duty. The tyranny of party, main 
tained by trickery and fraud and a division of spoils, is as 
objectionable to a freeanan as aiiy other tyranny. It is 
more dangerous than an o])en foe. 

Before we i)ass to the further duties of the day h^t us 
})ay a jiassing tribute of respect to the dead commander- 
in-chief, the lament(Hl Lincoln. H<\ too, died a soldier, 
at the head of our armies : died ).)V tlu^ liand of a cowai-dlv 



220 Beminiscences and Sketches. 



assassin, for all assassination is essentially cowardly — a 
secret and treacherous assault upon an unarmed and un- 
suspecting- victim. Time works g-reat chang-es. It's soft- 
ening- influences upon human passion is needed before 
the actors in g-reat events can take their proper j)lace in 
history. The rancor that saw alone in Mr. Lincoln, un- 
couthness, malevolence, ig-norance and partisanship, has, 
to a great extent, disappeared. The g-reat qualities of the 
man beg-in to be seen even by those who were his bitter- 
est revilers and foes. May I not say that Ave all here, 
without reg-ard to party, honor the memory of the man 
as a statesman and philanthropist, actuated by a pro- 
foundly unselfish and earnest desire for the welfare of his 
country and his fellowmen i 

One other thoug-ht that may not be inappropriate to 
the occasion. The war resulted in setting free four mil- 
lions of slaves. The necessity of the case has made them 
equal as citizens before the law. They have done won- 
derfully well, and are fast learning to be industrious and 
many of them intellig-ent-citizens. I doubt whether any 
race of people laboring- under all their disadvantag-es 
would have done better — perhaj^s none so well. It is not 
easy at once to lay aside old prejudices, and yet certainly 
it is the duty of all citizens to do so. It is the behest of 
true manhood and coui-ag-e that it should be done. 

To forg-ive and forg-et is noble. An adversary, who 
has been bellig-erent under a misapprehension, and who 
expresses regi-et, ought to be at once met with the ex- 
tended hand of reconciliation. But both sides were not 
right in this war. One or the other was frightfully wrong. 
Forgiveness does not mean that Ave are to fail to properly 
<TninciMt(\ on suitable occasions, the jnstnt^ss and human- 



Decoration Day — An Address. 221 

itv of our \v;ir. And yet there \W(\\\' doubtlc^ss j^-ood pco- 
})le, earnest Oliristian i)eople, eng-a<];-ed in the rebellion ; 
such arrant self- dectei vers are men wIkui warped and 
blindedby their surrounding-s and by their narrow vision. 

I have hcn-e th<' list of th(^ dcsad soldiers of th(^ eounty. 
I wish that time would permit to r(\-id tliem to you. 
More than one thousand of the prime of the manhood of 
this sing-le (;ounty of Bedford went out to this war. Of 
this nnmberOver six hundred died in th(^ service, in battle 
and from disease. One of every six of the men of the 
couiity went forth to battle — one of every ten of the men 
of the county laid down his life on the altar of his country. 
Ing-rates and cravens are we, and falst^ to our duty, if \\<^ 
fail to love our ccmntry and her free institutions, and to 
venerate the memory of our soldier dead. 

Let me tell you an in(;ident of the war. From among 
us here in this villag-e of Bedford, there went out a young- 
lawyer, Oswald Hampton Gaither, in all the health and 
hope and fond aspiration of young manhood. The j)a- 
triotism, the valor, the honor of the country, had been 
appealed to by the President's proclamation, and from 
the ])ulpit and the rostrum, to stand by the union of our 
fathers. The call of duty sounded so imperatively in his 
ears that his ccmscience would not permit him to say no. 
He left all the hapj^y surroumbngs of our beautiful vil- 
lage and marched f(H'th to uphold the heroics stai-s and 
stripes of our ancestors. On one of the battle-fields of 
Virginia he fell, pierced through tlu^ breast with a bullet. 
As he lay upon his hospital bed, conscious of his ap- 
proaching dissolution, with no mother's hand to wipe the 
death-sweat from his l)row, he was visited by a Presby- 
terian minister, who spoke to him of the a])i)]"()acliing end. 



222 UrniinisceiiceH and Sl-rfchcs. 

He replied, 1 mil ]>rei)aie(l to die so far as the consola- 
tions of reli<>*ion are eoncerned, but oh ! sir, it is hard to 
die thus, on tli(^ very ver^e of a life that was so full of 
hoptmnd promise, and aspirations of nsefulness and fame, 
but I am consoled l)y the thonglit that I perish for the 
<^'ood of my country, that her g-overnment and free insti- 
tutions may live. In a ftnv hours after he was in eternity. 
Ang-els If^aned over the battlements of heaven with out- 
stretched hands to welcome to paradise the soul of that 
young- Christian hero. 

Death is inevitable. However wc may exclude the un- 
welcome thought it comes to all. Each one must cross, 
and cross alone, so far as human aid is concerned, the 
dark waters that separate us from immortality. The fate 
of those we this day commemorate is assured. Their 
liattle of life is fought and ended gloriously. Some of us 
who survive may fill dishonored graves, may stain our 
lives with unworthiness, or disgrace our names and line- 
age. Not so with these. In the language of the brave 
Roman, Horatius, who, more than two thousand years 
ago, kept the bridg-e so well, 

" T<) ^'very one u})on this oartli 

Death conieth soon or hite, 
And how ciiii man die hetter 

Tlian faeinij; fearful odds 
For the ashes of his fathers, 

The temple of his ^ods. " 



MR. STANTON S DISCHARGE OF 
MILITARY PRISONERS. 



A T the close of the Avar, m Apiil, 1865, several thon- 
^ sand prisoners, who had been convicted by courts 
martial and military commissions, were confined in differ- 
ent forts and |:)enitentiaries, undergoing- sentences of im 
prisonment. For the most part they were soldiers of 
the Union, and i)ersons connected in one capacity or an- 
other with the army, as drafted men, sutlers, clerks, 
teamsters, contractors, etc., who had been convicted of 
desertion, bounty -jumping, failing- to report when 
drafted, larceny, cheating the government, assaults with 
int(ait to kill, horse-stealing, rape, arson, robbery and 
murder. But there were also numei'ous arre^sts, impris- 
onments and convi(;tions, of citizens ancx)nn(^-cted with the 
army. 

The war for the suppression of tlie rebellion was an 
immense and many-sided affair. The magnitude of its 
operations ran far Ix^yond tli(; conception of ordinary 
minds. The g-eneral (expectation was that it would end 

speedily. The very limited inter<x)urse and inter-com- 

(22:i) 



'224: Iic.itn'iiisiU'tK'Cs aitt/ Skc/c/ir.^. 

innnicjitioii betwoen the people of the South and the pro 
p\o of the North, had \udnrv(\ a <;-eneral and mutual 
misapprehensiou of (^liaraeter between tlie ijiliabitants ot" 
the s(H'tions. ']'h(^ South repmhHl the North as a nation 
of nierehants, trach'smen and small farmers, absorbed in 
moiKW ^"ettiui^- and dc^stitute of uianly si)irit and pvv- 
sonal eourao-e — a cowardly race, who could not be in- 
duced to fii^'ht ; and the North thoui^ht the South a horde 
of blusterini^' brat^r.^arts, and failed, for a time, to appre- 
ciate thesii" d<nidly (^arnc^stness in the ccnitlict for the 
destruction of the Union, in whicli they had enlisted. 
Even those wlio controlled aliairs at AVashint^'ton shartul 
in this misconception. At the outset it was tlioucrlit tlie 
war would end in ninety days. The first (ndistmeut of 
volmiteers was for a ptn'iod of tlircH' months. 

Thus it hat)pened that for a lon^^* time no i)rovision was 
madt^ for a bureau of military justice. Courts martial and 
military commissions were constituted, as the (^nero-enc^y 
of the occasion retpiired, by division, oi- c()r])s, or depart- 
ment commanders, of any officers who were at hand or 
who could bt^ spared from ac^tive duty, and the proceed- 
ings were oftentimes very crude and hurried, and doubt- 
l<\ss in som(* cases unjust. The othcei-s constitutiniif the 
courts were, for the most part, unskilUnl as jurists. Many 
of them had never opened a law book, and had no exper- 
ience with courts of justice or the administration of law. 
But numerous misdemtninors and sei-ious crimes were 
connnitted, and there were no courts to try offiuiders and 
punish offenses, except such as cimld be casually consti- 
tuttnl by virtue of martial law. Laroe scopes of country 
were at times undtu' no otliei- *^-overnm(^nt. As (^r 
armies advanced and took ])ossessi()u, some soi-f of ti"ibu- 



Dischanje of Militartj Frisoncrs -hM 

nals had to \)o ('rect<Hl to exercise jurisdietioii for tlin 
prote(^tioii and ])reservatioii of property, and liberty, and 
life. The loeal «fO|Vernment had l)(MH)nie entirely disor- 
i^ani/ed, and the courts broktni u}) and dispersed. 

Martial law is re<*-ulated by no establisluMl systc^rn or 
<.x>d(\ The military commander is tlit^ fountain of jus- 
tice. His arbitrary will is the supreme law. Growing 
out of the nec^essity of the case, prisom^rs, when con 
victed, W(5r<' sentenced to (umfine^ment in difl[er»^nt forts 
and penitentiaries throug-hout the North, and in many 
cases the only record of the trial and (H)nvi(tti()n and sen- 
tence remainino: in existencre was tlie g-eneral order 
accompanying the prisoner to tlie ])la(Hi of (confinement. 

It was not until 1863 tliat an attempt was made by 
congressional Ic^g-islation to r(^m(Hly this evil, and to sys- 
tematize mattt^rs and have the records of proceedings 
arranged and properly cared for. To this end, in July, 
1863, an a,ct was [)assed for the appointm<;nt of a jud^e 
advocate «"eneral, with the rank of bri^adit^r general, an 
assistant, with the rank of colonel, and two jud^e advo- 
cates, with the rank of major. In July, 1864, the depart- 
ment was enlarg-ed by an act autliorizin^- the a,ppoint- 
ment of a jud^c^ advoccate, with tlu^ r-ank of major, for 
each army corps. Judf»-(; Joseph Holt, of K<mtu(cky, was 
placced at the head of this bureau. 

There is no greater (evidence of manhood than self- 
poise. In common affairs, matters of <wery-day life^ 
when somethino- unusual occurs, th(^ man wlio is self-pos- 
sessed, wlio kee])s his head, who knows how to -cwX on a 
sudden cmer<,'-(incy, and wlio is willing- totak^^thr n^spon 
sibility, commands the admiration of his ff^llows. What 
measure of })rais(' then is du<' to Kdwin M Sbuiton as 



22(i licntinisci'iLCeti (ind JSkcfclx .s. 

Secretary of War, during- the contest tor the su})pressioii 
of the rebellion ? At a time when the ex}^enditures oi 
the government readied bt^tween two and three millions 
of dollars elaily, when a million of men were in arms, 
\\hen all the circumstances and surroundings were new, 
untried and alarming-, when there were no precedents by 
which he could shape his actions, he shrank from no re- 
sponsibility that properly belong-ed to his position. He 
never wavered or hesitated when disaster after disaster 
to our armies dispirited many a man of resolute will and 
strong nerve. He was in personal peril, in peril of as- 
sassination, and in special peril, if by any chance of war 
he had fallen into the hands of the Confederates. A short 
shrift and an ig-nominious death would have been his fate 
in all human probability, for theii' hatred of him was ma- 
lignant and intense. He stood at his post at the War De- 
partment from nine o'clock in the morning till late at 
nig-ht, month after month, from one year's end to another, 
and one year after another, and g-rasped the general scope 
and all the details of its multitudinous affairs. His ca- 
pacity for work was unbounded. His ability to make 
others work was immense. His quickness of mental ac- 
tion and justness of judgment were marvelous. I never 
met any man who was his equal in the prompt dispatch 
of business, except Thomas A. Scott of the Pennsylvania 
K;dlroad Company. He was misrepresented and abused 
by tht> partisan press and by the secession sympathizers 
of the north, and was charged with being- arbitrary, ty- 
rannical, vindictive and unjust. But he held the even 
tenor of his way, undismayed. He left a lucrative prac- 
tice at the bar, producing- an income of from twenty to 
tliirty thousand dollars a year, to assume the responsible 



Discharge of MUifary Prisoners. 227 

duties of Secretary of War at a salary of six or eii^lit 
thousand. The tongue of shmder, urg-ed by hatred the 
most bitter and malice the most mrdig-nant, assailed him 
with yitu]>eration at every point Avliere it was supposed 
he mig-lit be vulnerable. Houthern sympathizers saw in 
him the main prop of Mr. Lincoln's administration. He 
stood like an Atlas supporting" the globe upon his broad 
shoulders. They feared, hated and reviled him. Yet no 
man ever dared to impeach his honesty, or charged that 
he made a dollar, directly or indirectly, out of the war, or 
that any friends of his speculated in army contracts by 
his connivance. He came out of the War Department as 
poor as he went in. He came out broken in health by 
his assiduous attentions to the most exacting" duties. He 
died a martyr to the cause of the Union, by reason of his 
disreg-ard of the requirements of his own health, in order 
that he mig'ht discharg-e the duties of his ofHce for the 
benefit of an imperiled Union. 

Wlien the war ended, I was a judg-e advocate, with the 
rank of major, in the biu*eau of military justice, assig-ned 
to duty with the Sixteenth army corps, then under com- 
mand of General A. J. Smith and serving in Mississip))!. 
But I was detailed on special duty by the Secretary of 
War, which broug-ht me into close personal relations with 
him for months, and 1 propose to recall my personal recol- 
lections of him by way of showing what maimer of man 
he was. With a profound conviction that the country 
owes to Mr. Stanton a great debt of gratitude, 1 wish to 
contribut(i my mite to the proper understanding of tliis 
man of much more than common mold. 

Summoned to Washing-ton about th(^, first of June, 
18f)5, T called at the AVar Departirient as soon as it was 



228 Reniiniiscences and Skelclui^. 



opened, and sent in my (^ard to Mr. Stanton. He replied 
by his colored niessen<>-er that T should he seated and wait 
till he could sei^ ni(\ I took a seat in the outer office, 
where the number of persons desiring" an interview with the 
Secretary of War contiinied to incr<^ase'as the hours rolled 
on. ill tliis outer ofhce General Hardie and (^olonel P(^ 
louze alternately stood at a desk and answered inquiries, 
and in some instances disposed of matters of minor im- 
portance. Frcmi time to time th<^ UK^ssenger would (;ome 
out and usher into Mr. Stanton's inner sanctum those in- 
dividuals whose cards had been sent in, whom he desired 
to see privately. At eleven o'clock Mr. Stanton came 
into the outer room, and taking" his place at the desk, 
standing, Colonel Pelouze or General Hardie standing- 
beside him, receiv(^d in turn <^ach individual, and heard 
what he had to say, and rapidly disposed of his ai)plica- 
tion or business. Ordinarily, from twenty to thirty p(3r- 
sons would be thus received and disposed of each day in 
the hour allotted by the Secretary to this duty. Th<' ap- 
plications were of every possible kind. Permission to 
get cotton, tobacco^ or other property that had been 
seized and confiscated, on the alh?g"ation that the owner 
of it was loyal to the government, r«^quests to visit pris- 
oners, or for their })ardon, or for the discharges of boys 
who had enlisted, or soldiers who were sick, and a hun- 
dred and (me other thing-s. Mr. Stanton disposed of 
tlies(i matters with wondeii'ul celerity, and ordinarily with 
reasonable ])atience and g^ood natm-e. He was intolerant 
of a prosy narrative, because it wasted his time, and it 
was not wise to persist in repeating the claim after he 
had refused it. On some such occasions I have seen 
him flash like a stroke of lighting and explode like a 



Discharge of Milifdry Prisoners. 229 

tliunderbolt. I remembc^r one who claimed tobacco at 
liic^hmond as beloiig-ino: to a Frencliman, wlio persisted 
ill urg-in^ sornethinc:;- that the French consul had said 
about the Fr(*nchmans ri«rhts, and what the French orov- 
ernnient would do in the premises. Stanton (piickly, but 
in a very quiet and determined manner, said, " Your 
Frc^nch consul be damned ! you can withdraw, sir ! " 
which the man did, and stood not on the ordt^r of his 
croin^. 

( )n one occasion amonir the (wallers was Dr. Mary Wal- 
ker, dr(;ss(Hl in a semi-masculine costume of blue p?yits 
and a blue coat reaching a little Ik^ow the knees, and 
with what looked like boots on her feet. Immcxliately 
oil Mr. Stanton's appearance; she advanced to the desk, 
although she had not been waiting as long as some 
others, and urged her rig-ht to be appointed a surgeon in 
the reg-ular army, because of her services as a doctor to 
the soldiers in Kentucky and Tennesee. She wanted 
Mr. Stanton to recommend her to the President so that 
she might be nominated by him to the Senate, and con- 
firmed and commissioned, and demanded to know if hit- 
ters and papers recommending her, and testifying to h(;r 
merits and services, had been read by him, and when he 
was going to act, and liow. Her manner was aggressive 
and waspish. Mr. Stanton's manner towards \un- was 
mild, and his mouth, which was a very beautiful and ex- 
pn^ssive feature of his face, was wreathed with a pleasant 
little trace of a smile of amusement, as he said, no, he had 
not rc^ad her papers, and, turning to Colon(;l Pelouze or 
General Hardie (I do not remember which), said, Col- 
onel, or General, what do you think of \t '. Whereupon 
Mrs. Doctor Mary, boiling over with rage, stepped her 



230 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

foot forward and shook her fist (dose under the Secre- 
tary's nose, and said she was ontrag-ed and wrong-ed, and 
he would liear from her, and tlouneed out with a femi- 
nine wrig-g-ling" motion, wdiich, as she had no skirts on, 
was preeminently ridiculous. Mr. Stanton evidently en- 
joyed this little episode, but proceeded at once to the 
dispatch of other matters. 

Speaking of Mrs. Doctor Mary Walker, I am reminded 
of an incident of her career in Tennessee. The army 
of the Union had advanced and occupied the town 

of . On Sunday, services in (commemoration 

of the Lord's supper were held at the Episcopal chur(di, 
and a small vase of flowers, white with a red flower in 
the center, was on a table or altar in a conspicious place. 
Mi's. Doctor Walker, who was in the audience, unpinned 
from some part of her dress a piece of blue ribbon, and in 
the midst of the servi(ces advanced and laid it across the 
flowers in the vase. The congregation' were rebel sym- 
pathisers, and Dr. Walker's summary dose of red, white 
and blue patriotism came near breaking it up in confusion. 

Finally, after a patient wait, I think it was after four 
o'clock, the hour at which the department closed for the 
general public, I was ushered into Mr. Stanton's private 
room. He apologized for keejiing me waiting on the 
groun(f that his time had been fully occupied, and tliat he 
wished to have leisure to explain to me fully what he 
wanted done, and proceeded to state tliat there was a 
large accumulation of prisoners of the kind I have referred 
to, and that he desired forthwith to release all of them 
that could be joardoned witliout prejudice to the service 
or injury to the country, that it would not do to pardon 
all indiscriminately, because some might belong to regi- 



Dischanje of Military FrisomrH. 231 

meuts which were yet in the service, and others mi^-ht be 
very bad men whose conhnement was necessary for the 
welfare of society, and who ouo-ht not to bt^ at hirge, and 
that the pardon and discharg't^ of a vicious soklier, whilst 
the o-ood soldiers of the same reg-iment were yet held t< ) 
military service, would be putting- a premium on ])ad 
conduct and would tend to the demoralization of the 
army ; but that he had no doubt that many of the crimes 
had been committed by reason of the license eng-endered 
by the war by persons who were otherwise pretty g-ood 
citizens. He wished no delay, no red tape, no formal ap- 
plications for pardon, no routine work, and desired me to 
see each prisoner separately and to learn from a personal 
conversation with and interrogation of the man, from the 
record of his conviction, accompanymg- him to the prison, 
and from tlie testimony of the officers of the prison as to 
his conduct duringf confinement, whether he ought to be 
pardoned, and directed that I should report to him in 
person after the investig-ation of each fort (n- penitentiary, 
with a general list giving- the name, ag-e, residence, reg-i- 
ment, date of enlistment, duration of confinement, crime, 
conduct in prison, and my recommendation and the reason 
therefor as to each prisoner, and with a detached dr sep- 
arate special report at length, in any ceases of im])ortance 
where such extended rejiort seemed necessary. 

The first place visited under this ordei- was Fort Mc- 
Henry, near Baltimore. Therein confined were one hun- 
dred and forty -two prisoners, other than prisoners of war, 
who came within the sco})e of the Secretary's order. The 
department was under the command of Majoi- (xeneral 
Lew Wallace ; the fort, under the command of Colonel 
W. W. Morris of the second artillery of the rcgulai'army. 



232 Meminiticenccs and Sketcken. 



In the city of Baltimore a military commission was slowly 
trying, at the rate of about one or two hours' work a day, 
a lot of offenders, most of whom were Baltimore roug-hs, 
who had been arrested for expressions of delight at the 
assassination t)f the President, and drafted men who had 
failed to report, of whom twenty-five were in Fort Mc- 
Henry awaiting trial. Some of them had been in con- 
finement for eight months. The military commission 
was evidently carefully husbanding the supply of pris- 
(mers so as to keep the thing going as long as possible. 

The position of the oflicers constituting it was very 
nearly a sinecure. With pleasant surroundings and good 
salaries they were in no hurry to be relegated to the or- 
dinary pursuits of civil life. 

On my return to Washington in a few days with my 
report, Mr. Stanton, in an interview of an hour or less, 
which took place after the ordinary working hours of the 
Wjir Department were over, acted upon the entire list, 
and, as I ultimately learned, ordered the discharge of all 
except three, and l^roke up the military commission as a 
useless affair, and sj^eedily reduced the military force at 
Baltimore to a very small number. But he by no means 
adopted my report without examination. Selecting the 
name of a man imprisoned for a high crime, he asked, 
"why do you recommend this man's pardon f After 
hearing what I had to say, he put one or two searching 
interrogations, as if to test the accuracy of my judgment. 
This lie did, perhaps, in three or fom- cases, and thus 
judged of the whole work. 

The cases which he did not pardon were the following : 

Walter Lennox, mayoi' of Washington city, charged 
with being a rebel spy and bearer of communications 



B'hschanje of JJUitary Frisonerff. 233 



from Riclimoud to Canada, confined by order of the Sec- 
retary of War, and who had never been l)rong-ht to trial, 
to whom, whilst at the fort, I sent a messag-e that I was 
there as the special ag-ent of the War Department with 
no instrnctions as to his erase, but under a g-eneral order 
to investig-ate the cases of prisoners and recommend the 
discharg-e of all who could be released without prejudice 
to the service or injury to the country, and that I would 
l)e pleased to call on him in the discharge of my duty if 
lie desired me to do so. He replied, that he did not care 
for an interview, that his arrest and incarceration consti- 
tuted a g-ross \dolation of the constitution and of the laws 
of the land, and that he proposed, when released from 
confinement, to vindicate himself by a trial by jury, and 
that he would hold Mr. Stanton personally responsible. 
At the delivery of this messag-e a trace of a smile curved 
the corners of the Secretary's mouth, but he made no re- 
mark. Ml'. Lennox, however, remained a prisoner, and I 
think was not discharg-ed as long- as Mr. Stanton remained 
in the war ofiice 

The next case was that of a Union soldier. In one of 
the battles in Virginia he had been wounded with a sabre 
stroke on the head. A larg-e ci(?atrix crossing- over half 
of the top of the head and extending do-wii into the fore- 
head below the hair, exhibited to the most casual observer 
that he had survived a fearful wound. After he had re- 
covered and been discharged from the hospital, and was 
on the way to join his regiment he shot and killed, in the 
Camden Street depot at Baltimore, a little newspaper boy 
])ecause of a dispute as to whether he had retiu'iied the 
change correctly. Arrested and taken to Fort McHenry, 
he was tried, under Colonel Morris' iurisdiction, and 



234 Reminiscences and Skefchei 



convicted of murder iind seiiteiic^ed to be lianized, and the 
day was set for the execution. But whim it came t]u) 
man was wildly insane, and so the execution was post- 
poned from time to time. The difficulty (\)lonel Morris 
encountered was to g-et a day appointed with red-tape 
reg-ularity to liano- tlie man at a, time when he had a lucid 
interval. Neither the scar of the wound, nor the insuf- 
licienc^y of th(^ motive to murder, nor the man's wild spells 
of insanity seem ev(^r to have sugg-est^ul to Colonel Mor 
ris s mind thc^ }:)i"ol)ability tliat he was insane when he 
committed the deed. Mr. Stanton at once transferred 
this man to an insane asylum. 

The third was the case of a prisoner who Avas tried and 
convicted as a rebel spy within our lines in Ohio. This 
man, whose real name was Davis, had been, as was dis 
covered by some of the prisoners who made known their 
suspicions to me, a lieutenant in the service of the Con 
federacy under the notorious Werz at the prison at An- 
dersonville at the timc^ of tlu^ inhuman treatment of our 
prisoners of war. Mr. Stanton transferred him to the 
I^enitentiary at Albany, N. Y., as I learned on the occa- 
sion of my visit there some months afterwards, and prob- 
ably hehl him tliere to the last. 

By any ordinary method <^f jail delivery other than a 
summary one, mcmths would have been consumed in de- 
termining- what was to be done with these prisoners and 
there would have been the intervention of pardon-brokers, 
and jietitions and recommendations, and a vast expense 
to the government, all of wliich was avoided by Mr. Stan- 
ton's practical g-ood sense and ]irompt rejdization of the 
necessities of th(^ (Occasion, and his willingness to take 
the responsibility and do the^ work himself. If he had 



Discharge of Militai^y Frisoiitrs. 235 

l)eeu jx corrupt man and desirous of «inri(;liin^- hims^'lt' or 
his friends the sale of pardons wouhl liave bee^n a r 'ady 
nutans of aceomplishing' it. 

In the sam(^. way, and as rapidly as an examination and 
report eould be made, Mr. Stanton proceeded with the 
iollowing- forts, camps and j xvnitentiaries, in each of which 
were a ^-nnitc^r or less number of pris(mers : 

Fort Delaware, below Philadelphia. 

Fort Lafayette, in New York harbor. 

Fort Warren, in Boston harbor. 

Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio. 

Camp Morton, at Indianapolis, Indiana. 

Camp Doug-las, at Chicago, Illinois. 

The Ohio Penitentiary, at Columbus, Ohio. 

The Iowa Penitentiary, at Fort Madison, Iowa. 

The Gatriot Street Prison, at St. Louis, Missouri. 

The Missouri Penitentiary, at Jefferson City, Missouri. 

The Virginia Penitentiary and the Libby Prison, at 
Richmond, Virg"inia. 

The Kentucky Penitentiary, at Frankfort, Kentucky. 

The Tennessee Penitentiary, at Nashville, Tennessee. 

Sing'-Sing', Clinton, Auburn and Albany Penitentiaries, 
in the State of New York. 

Th(5 New Hampshire Penitentiary, at Concord, New 
Hampshire. 

The Fitchburg- Female Prison, at Fitchlmrg-, Massachu- 
setts. 

Li nearly all of thesf^ cases, amounting" in the ag-g-reg-ate 
to several thousand, the sentences were remitted and the 
prisoners discharg-ed from confinement. By the end of 
the year 1865 probably not one hundred remained in con- 
finement. Finally, by a g-eneral order of the T3th of Tuly^ 



236 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

1866, all pi'isoners undergoino- military sentence, wb<> 
had been imprisoned for a j^eriod of six months, except 
those underg-oing- sentence for the crimes of murder, 
arson or rape, and excepting those under sentence at the 
Island of Tortugas, were discharged and the residue of 
their sentences remitted. 

The Camps Chase, Morton and Douglas, at each of 
which were a few prisoners and a large number of ofhcers 
ha\dng a good time, were suinmaiily broken up, and the 
prisoners who were not discharged wc^re transferred to 
other places. 

Mr. Stanton was not a popular man. He had neither 
time nor inclination for bowing and scraping and compli- 
mentary speeches. The business of war is real. A vast 
work was to be done, and done rajndly, with system and 
exactness, and without much regard to the suariter in 
modo. His mind promptly grasped everything suggested 
to his notice, and saw at once the whole subject matter. 
He had little patience with slo^v men. He seemed to be 
es]iecially unpopular with the regular army officers. Ex- 
actly why this was I do not know, unless it was because 
his ways were not like their ways, and they disliked his 
methods. I presume it would have taken Colonel Morris 
as many weeks to discharge the prisoners at Fort Mc- 
Henry as Mr. Stanton consumed of minutes for that work. 

Henry Ward Beecher's estimate of Mr. Stanton, in 
May, 1865, was as follows: "I think he lias all the ele- 
ments of old John Adams; able, staunch, patriotic, full 
of principles, and always unpopular. He lacks that sense 
of other people's opinions which keeps a man from run- 
ning against them, and so he is not unfrequently found 
with a plan pitched right into somebody who, by tact, 



Discharge of Militarif Prisoners. 287 



mij^'lit havr been avoidtHl. But this is an honest trait, 
and 1 quite hke to see aiuong- supph', dainty, ducking 
men, now and then, one who, Hke a bull, does his work 
by downright strength." 

As Mr. Lincoln was the right man for President, and 
Thaddeus Stevens the right man for ehairman of the Com- 
mittee of Ways and Means, and General Grant the right 
man at the head of the army, so Mr. Stanton was preemi- 
nently qualified for Secretary of War. A timid man would 
never have done. A slow-minded man, however clear and 
strong and just, would have been an utter failure. A de- 
sponding man would have succumbed. A dishonest or 
corrupt man would have enriched himself and his friends 
and ruined the country. 

Courageous, resolute, possessed of unfaltering ]^atriot- 
ism, with unbounded faith in the cause of the Union and 
in its ultimate success, shrinking from no proper respon- 
sibility, vigilant, prompt, far-seeing, industrious, ener- 
getic, self-sacrificing and honest, Mr. Stanton was emi- 
nently fitted for the post. Amiability would have weak- 
ened the strong fibre of his character. Mr. Lincoln had 
enough of that for both. Stanton supplemented Lincoln's 
character, and together they gave the country the very 
qualities that were needed at Washington in the crisis of 
our national life. And down through the ages their mem- 
oi-ies will go, linked together — President Lincoln and his 
great Wai- Secr<'tary. When time h'uds a proper per- 
spective to the view, on the scroll that Fame will ulti- 
mately unroll, exhibiting the achievements of our great 
men for the admiration and gratitude of posterity, the 
name of Edwin M. Stanton will be well towards the top. 



OVERTAKEN BY JUSTICE. 



TN looking- over old newspapers to trace the career of 
David Lewis, the robber, I came upon an item of 
information in regard to Ellis Lewis, a distinguished 
man of another g-rade. 

The printing office is a g-ood place to get a practical 
education — better, in some respects, than a college, if 
you judge by the men who have graduated at printing 
offices and risen to success as lawyers, and legislators, 
and governors. Pennsylvania furnishes a long list of 
such, and among them is Ellis Lewis, who became a pres- 
ident judge of the court of common pleas, and afterwards 
chief justice. He was bound as an apprentice to John 
Wyeth, of Harrisburg, who published a newspaper 
called the Oracle. Simon Cameron was at the same 
time an apprentice in the printing- office of the Pennsyl- 
vania Republican. 

In February, 1816, Lewis, tired of the drudg-ery or of 
his treatment, and d(^ubtless conscious of his real powers, 
suddenly, one Sunday morning, disappeared. Wliere- 
upon Wyeth advertised him in the Pennsylvania Bepub- 
lican. as follows: 

(238) 



Overtdken hy Justice. 289 

$20 KEAVAED. 

ORA(n.E Office, Febnuu^i/ 8, 1816. 
Abs(t(nided tVoni this ofiice on Sunday morning an iixiented appren- 
tice to the printing bufsiiiess, 

E L L I S L E WIS, 
aged about nineteen years — five leet one or two inches high, slim 
built, pale coiuitenance with a down look. All persons are Ibrbid 
harboring him. And the young man mav rest assured that however 
he may hug himself on his dexterity at running away justice sooner 
or later will overtake him to his cost. 

John Wyeth.. 

Whether the Oracle was oracular in anything- else or 
not I know not, but the prediction as to Lewis' future 
was sing-ularly verified. Justice overtook him, not, how- 
ever, to his cost, and made him a disting-uished judg-e. 



M 



FORTY YEARS AGO. 

j. ,| Y avocation as a sm-veyor tliroug-h Bedford county 
forty years ag-o introduced me to tlie home life of the 
people, a description of which may be interesting- and 
may have historic value, as the chano-es in the habits and 
customs and modes of life of the poj:)ulation of the county 
in my time are very marked. The innovations are g-reater 
in some townships than in others, for there was a differ- 
ence in the degree of progi'ess made when I first went 
among- the people, some localities being more advanced 
than others : but it has been very g-reat in all, both in town 
and country. I will take Southampton tc^wnship foi- 
illustration, because that \\'as, perhaps, one of the most 
backward, and the people most primitive in their ways : 
and that too was a township in which I surveyed a g-reat 
deal and had the fullest opportunity for observation. 

I select the year 1849 as the period of description — my 
advent in the township was in the fall of that year. 
First impressions are those that can best be recalled and 
relied upon, for every thing- was new to me and different 
from what T had been accust<3med to, and therefore 
stamped itself indelibly on the memory. 

(240) 



Fort if Years Ago. HI 



There was not. at that time, so far as 1 know, a silk 
dress, or a broadcloth coat, or a car]:)(^ted i-oom, in all that 
township. The women wore sun-bonntits, and (b(isses of 
linsey-woolsey, and for Hnnday, calico ; and the mt^n won; 
ronnd-a-bouts called "slips," made of homfvs])un flannel, 
mostly of a dnll brown color, bnt occasionally of a brig-lit 
rcHi Store-clothes and store-shoes and store-bonnets and 
artificial dowers, were unknown. Nearly every thing- that 
was w^orn was made at home. In every well-to-do house 
there was a spinning-wheel, a reel and a loom. They 
raised their own fla:x, from which they made linen for 
sheets and underclothing, and tow linen, from i\w 
roug-her parts of the flax, for pants, etc., and the sheep 
furnished the wool from which flannel was woven. The 
linsey-woolsey, out of which women's dresses and men's 
coats and pants were made, was a combination of wool 
and linen, the warp of one and the woof of the other. 

In hay-making and harvest, the women worked in the 

fields, and in winter, they spun and wove. The best room 

in the best houses had a bed-strip of home-made carpet. 

The only piece of ornamentation that I recall was a small 

looking'-g-lass, the mirror part beloA\', with a painted pic- 

tm*e at the top, beneath which, pendant from tacks at th<' 

two upper corners, hung- a stiff-starched towel with a 

fring-e at the lower edg-e, not intended for use. Ablu 

tions were made at the spring- or in the running- stream 

near tlie door. There was not in all that township, a 

piano, a (^abin<^t-organ, amelodian, a carriag-e or a bug-g-y, 

or a subscriber to a city newspaper. Six copies of the 

Bedfoi'd G<m'ii(' were taken in the township, and not a 

sing-le copy of any other pa])er, secnilar oi- relig-ious. The 

houses, built of ]oo-s, li.-id Inn^e cliimneys madn of stone, 
10 



242 Ii( /itiiiisccHccs (I ml Sl.'ctclivs. 



with lir(^ places wi(l(3 and deep eiK^u^h to put in great 
back logs five or six feet long. There was room for a 
stool in tlu^ corner. The cooking was done on the hearth 
in dutch ovens and skillets. In two or three housc^s were 
cooking stoves, which were then just Ixdng introduci^d. 

The nionc^y in circulation was worn tips, levys and 
(piarters, of Spanish coinage. Wliisky was a levy a 
quart and was for sale at every country store. Most of 
the men chewed tobacco and smoked pipes. There were 
no g-lass lamps. Cofd oil was unknown. The lig-ht was 
made by fat pine thrt)wn on the open tire, or by a wick of 
cotton partly immersed, swimming- in lard in a little iron 
vessel. A ritle-grin hung- on peg-s driven in the wall, with 
a powder-horn and bullet pouch close at hand. A corner 
cupboard, with glass in the doors, which exhibited a fcM- 
dishes, was the sole article of furniture that made any 
demonstration of display. 

The adjoining townships of Monroe^ and Cumberland 
A^alley were in nnich the same state of advancement. 

Now all this is changed. You will find a piano, org-an 
or melodian, in nearly every house of the better class, 
most all have cooking-stoves, and coal oil lamps, and car- 
peted rooms, and sewing- machines, and oi-namental win- 
doAv curtains, and bugg-ies, and newspapers, and mag-a- 
zines, and ))eriodicals: and line dresses of silk and (cash- 
mere, and bonnets with ornamental flowers, and tine slioes, 
and city -made clothing of the latest cut, ar(3 se(^n in nearly 
every locality. In fact, the country ])(H)ple of thesis town- 
ships dress with as much taste, and livci with as many 
(•omforts, as the people of Bedford boroug-h did forty years 
ago. 

The change in ]^ 'dford township is almost as marked 



Fortij )V'ay.s ^iijo. '248 

as in S()ntliani])t()ii. Forty years a.^'o tlu^re wc^ro but two 
farnKU's in all the Dunnin^'s Creek settlc^ment who had 
any conveyance more pretentions tlian a S])i*inf^ wa^^on — 
they were John Schnably and Antony Zimmers. lliere 
were not at that time more than two or three farmers who 
had (carpeted bed-rooms. The only musical instruments 
in the township were the spiiminf^-wlu^el and the violin, 
and tlit^ literature of most households was confined to the 
Bible, a hymn book ancj the c;ounty newspaper. No 
wonder the Bedford Gazette was a powei' in those days. 
It had the exclusive ear of the party. They read nothing: 
of newspaper kind except its columns, and they believed 
all its statements ^\dth implicit confidence. 



AX DREW lACKSON OGLE. 



"TTTHEN Jack Ogle made his first appearance in Bed- 
ford, at the ag-e of twenty-three, in the year 1847, 
he was the handsomest man I ever saw. With a mag-nifi- 
cent head, crowned by a wealth of brown iiair that needed 
no barber's art, but lay in g-raceful masses as he thrust it 
back from his brow with a careless rub of his hand, and 
the throat and neck of a chiseled statue exposed to view 
by a low collar turned down over a flowing black silk 
necktie, and large brown eyes sparkling with vitality, and 
a complexion aglow with health, with an erect fig-ure of 
l^erfect proportions, and a carriage of easy grace, as he 
passed along: the streel, walking upon the earth as if he 
owned it, no man, woman or child, could help observing: 
him. If he had landed imheralded and unknown in any 
village of the United States from Maine to Texas, he 
would have attracted immediate and greneral attention by 
his appearance, bearing and conversation, and in a day's 
time would have had ardent admirers and devoted friends. 
He came to assist in the tri;d of the cases in the court of 
quarter sessions of Aug-ust, 1847, between the families of 
Reed and Colvin that sprang from the marriage of Reuben 

(244) 



Andreic Jackson Oyfe. 245 



Cohdn to Miss Reed, Avhi(di stirnMl tlie villa<4-e of Schells- 
burg" from center to circumference. His voice was clear, 
full, sonorous harmony, and his laugrli was liquid music. 
I recall my feeling-s as I saw him for the first tim(\ He 
was walkings alone, a. manifest strang-er taking- a stroll of 
observation through our ancient village, in which he was 
making his first appearance. My first feeling was one of 
pure admiration, commingled with a desire to know who 
he was. He looked like a living Apollo. I was a young 
man, three or four years his junior, and was reading la^'. 
I nuist conf(^ss t<^ a tinge of envy as I realized his mani 
fest supeiioi'ity. 

He was elected to the Thii-ty-tirst (\)ngress from the 
district composed of Somerset, Fayette and Greene, with 
a large political majority against him, and he died of 
apoplexy in his thirtieth year. The news of his death 
fell like the shock of an unexpected blow, and brought 
sorrow and regret to thousands. That so much of manly 
beauty should die, and be no more on earth forever, was 
a great grief. Men gray with age, and not wont to be 
lightly moved, were dissolved in tears as they heard the 
announcement, "Jack Ogle is dead,'" and turned aside to 
conceal the moisture that welled unbidden to the eye [ind 
trickled down the (;heek. 

Like Burns he lived too fast and discounted Jiis life 
with too liberal a devotion to pleasure. 

Mounted on a store-box ;it Dr. Keysc^r s store, lie recited 
Tam O'Shanter from beginning to end, one bright night 
id el(n'(*n o'clock, to an admiring auditory of boon com- 
panions. No trained elocutionist that ever I have heard 
since could hav(^ donc^ it more effectively. 

I recall his speech at th<' Whig meeting on Tuesday 



246 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



night of court. It was alternately in Eng-lish and Penn- 
sylvania German, and elicited enthusiastic admiration 
and applause. He narrated illustrative stories with con- 
summate o-race and melody and skill. 

Democratic j^rinciples ! he said, what are they — loaves 
and fishes — nothing- else. Wlio ever saw a Democratic 
principle ? Produce the man. Wlio ever saw this won- 
drous thing- ? Let him step forward and exhibit himself 
and describe it. What does it look like 1 Explain it — 
portray it. How does it work f What does it do ? When, 
where in the whole history of the Democratic party of 
the last twenty years has there been a Democratic prin- 
ciple, except to hold office and plunder the public treas- 
ury at the expense of the taxpayers, the hard-working, 
honest yeomanry of the country 1? Democratic principles 
forsooth! Wliat brazen-faced humbuggery! They are 
as hard to find as Smith's milk. 

Soon after the first effulgence of the honeymoon had 
grown a little dim in Smith's married life, he had been 
out with some of the boys, and, returning late and boozy, 
he reflected that he had heard that milk was the thing to 
straighten a man up and make him presentable to his 
wife, but where to get it was the question. Taking ofi* 
his shoes and approaching his wife's bedroom door he 
cautiously opened it slightly and inquired, Annie, have 
^\■e any milk in the house? Yes, replied his loving 
spouse, in wondering amazement at the question, yes, 
there is some in the cupboard. Closing the door softly. 
Smith descended and groped around in inebriated micer- 
tainty till he found the cupboard door, and felt about in 
the dark on the shelves for the milk. ITnable to find it 
he again ascended to his wife's room, and again opening 



Andrew Jockson Ogle. 247 



a crack in the door, said, Annie, Annie, I can't find tli^'t 
milk. Is it tied up or tying loose ? 

As illustrating the extravagances and corruptions of 
the Democratic administration at Washington, which he 
said were beyond his powers to portray, he told this inci- 
dent : 

In a certain village lived a carter, noted for his quaint 
and terse profanity. He could swear with an origintdity 
tliat almost redeemed his utterances from the contempt 
that ought to be visited upon that vicious habit. And 
the people sometimes gathered around him on occasions 
when they expected an exhibition of his peculiar jDOwers. 
Once he loaded his cart with ashes and ascended a street 
with a long inclined grade. His well-trained horse was 
moving up the middle of the street, and he was walking 
along on the pavement with his whip under his arm 
wrapped in thought. At the bottom of the grade the 
tail-board of the cart fell out, and the line of progress 
was marked by a long streak of ashes, which had dribbled 
out until the cart was empty. At the turn of the corner, 
on the top of the hill, the denouement was expected, and 
a crowd of boys and idle men, gradually swelling in num- 
bers, had gathered behind and was mo\'ing towards the 
corner to hear the volley of profanity that the discovery 
would elicit. Wlien that point was reached he turned 
and took in the situation at a glance, and with a half 
apology for his deficiencies said: It's no use, gentlemen. 
It's no use, / cant d<> Justice to the subject ! 

Charles Ogle, who gained the sobriquet of " Spoony*' 
Ogle by a celebrated speech in Congress, in 1839, on the 
extravagant expenditures of the White House at Wash- 
ington, the occupants of which he said were indulging in 



24S RtiniiihveuceH and Sketches. 



g-old teaspoons wh(ni the couiitr}^ had nothing- foi- currency 
but shinphxsters on broken banks, was an uncle of Jack's. 
He was a learned lawyer and an orator of ability, l)ut was 
not possessed of Jack's personal mag'netism. Jack was 
a g-randson of (leneral Alexander Ogie, the man who 
wrote the letter to General Jackson with the little "i's." 
The story runs thus : Old Alexander, who was a self-made, 
strong-minded man, and who had in his early life repre- 
sented Somerset count}^ in the Pennsylvania Legishiture. 
soon after Jackson was elected President, wi'ote a long 
letter to him on public affairs, advising- him as to the 
course^ he thoug-ht his administration ought to pursue, 
l)ut before sending- it off, pleased with his production, 
carried it around and read it to several of his neig-hbors. 
The old man's education was limited. One of the per- 
sons to wliom he exhibited it, noticed that he spoke quite 
a g-ood deal of himself, and filled his letter full of small 
dotted " i's " instead of the capital I required by the rules 
of g-rammar, and ventured to sug-gest that this was not 
the })roper thing. AMiatever the General lacked he was 
not deficient in ready mother wit, and, equal to the occa- 
sion, he assumed at onc(^ to know all about the rules of 
letter-writing, and said: "Sir, I am writing- this letter to 
the President of the United States. If I was writing to 
a common man I would use capital 'Is,' l)ut in writing 
to General Jackson I think it is proper to use small 'i's,'" 
and then stretchings out his arm and pointing with one 
hand to his elbow, and with an eye flashing- with indig-na- 
tion, added: "If I was writing to you, sir, I would make 
an 'I,' sir, as long as my arm, sir." 



DAVID LEWIS, THE ROBBER, 



^r^HERE is a predisposition in the human mind to hero 
worship. It exists to a g-reater or less extent among" 
all people, but is strong-est among the ignorant. Imagina- 
tion exaggerates the atihievements and attiibutes of the 
subject and it is difficult to determine the actual truth of 
the alleged occurrences and the real characteristics of men 
who come down in history or tradition as remarkable. 
Wliilst humanity is by no means on a dead level, noted 
men do not tower above their fellows to as great an ex- 
tent as is claimed or supposed. The mass of men are on 
an equality of dull commonness. A little individuality 
g-ives prominence. In a (conflict with an adverse tribe or 
nation, the whole tribal or national tcnidency is t(^ am 
plify and enlarg-e feats of courage or endurance or skill 
It adds to the glory of the nation — all share to a certain 
ext(^nt in the performance. Tht^ feeling is, we did it. So 
it is the proclivity of a community to exag^gferate in be- 
half of its members as against other (X)mmunities. And 
it is therefore difficult to get at the truth. All history is 
exaggeration of laudation or defaraaticm. 

(249) 



250 Eeminiscences ami Sketches. 



But there is a tendency to exag\izerate and make heroes 
independently of any of these motives. It is hard to 
say exactly why. Perhaps it is from an innate dispo- 
sition to lie. Some heroes are entire fabrications — im- 
ag-inary persons made out of the whole cloth. All times 
and all nations seem to have such. They come up out 
of the obsciu'ity of the past like i^hantom ships upon a 
phantom ocean. 

Seventy years ag'o one of the heroes of central Pennsyl- 
vania was Lewis, the Robbee. His exploits were nar- 
rated bj^ every fireside in the valleys of the Alleg-heuies 
and on the ridg'es of the Seven Mountains, and his name 
was used to frig'hten children into obedience. Tradition 
o-ives to him many of the charac-teristics of Piobin Hood, 
the noted outlaw of Engiish story : it is said of Le^^is, as 
of Hood, that he never robbed the ]x^or. that he took from 
the rich to g-ive to the poor, and that he never shed hu- 
man blood, restraining' his comrades from doing- so when 
they urged it as the dietate of safety, or on the gi'ound 
that dead men tell no tales. 

One of the traditionary stories is that Lewis once stayed 
over nig-ht at the house of a poor widow. It was an ob- 
scure country home in an out-of-the-way IcK-ality. She 
was in grreat trouble because her cow and her scanty 
household effects had been le^-ied upon by a constable 
for a debt which she was unable to pay. The sale had 
been advertised, and was to take |ilace the next day un- 
less she in some way procm'ed the money, which she was 
utterly unable to do. In the morning- he inquired the 
amount that would be needed to discharge the indebted- 
ness, and grave it to her and de])arted amidst her profuse 
expressions of thankfulness for his g-enerosity and kind- 



David Lewis, the Robber. 251 



ness. Soon after, the constable arrived, and the widow 
])aid the claim with many laudations of the kind-hv arted 
izentleman who had g-iven her the means to d > so. 
AMthin a mile or two of the widow's humble hom '. the 
kind-hearted o-entleman lay in wait for the constal)lc. and 
at the pistols mouth presented the alternative '" your 
money or yom- life" to the astonished ofhcial who, with 
pallid face and shaking- hands, hastened to restore to 
Lewis the mone\^ which, a few hours before, he had so 
generously loaned to the poor ^^•idow. 

It is said that when they robbed McClelland, on the 
west side of Sidling- Hill, a mile or two east of Sprout s 
Hotel (now Mcllvaine's) at a thick cluster of pines along- 
side of the turnpike, which is still pointed out as the 
scene of the occurrence, both his comrades, Connelly and 
Hanson, advocated killing- and m-ged the folly of letting 
the man live to be a witness against them. But LcaWs, 
who was the controlhng mind and the recognized chief, 
said he di'ew the line at murder, and that he wanted m^ 
man s blood upon his hands, and permitted him to go on 
his way and gave him a few dollars to defi'ay his ex- 
penses. 

McClelland was a merchant of Pittsburgli. At that 
day (1819) facilities of exchange through banks by 
ih'aft were not at hand, and there were no express com 
]^anies to transmit by. Thr merchant gathered up his 
money, much of it in Spanish silver and Portuguese gold, 
and carried it himseh over the Icmely mountains to Pliila 
delphia. McClelland was traveUng on horse-back with 
his funds in his saddle-bags. Tradition gives the amount 
at eighteen hundred dollars. For this robl^ery. Lewis, 
Connellv and Hanson were arrested and incai-cerated hi 



252 Reminiscences and Sketches. 



the. Bedford jail. The place of arrest was near Lewis- 
town, Pennsylvania. The time and circumstances I have 
not been able to learn. Then^ is no file of the Bedford 
Gazette in existence for any of the years between 1810 
and 1832 that I know of. The paper was estal)lished by 
Charles McDowell in September. 1805, who continued it 
until 1832, when he sold it to General Georg-e W. Bo^n - 
man. Jno. P. Reed, Esq.. has a bound volume of the 
issues from 1805 to 1808, which, as a matter of ancient 
history of our town and vicinag-e, is of inestimable value. 
It ought to be purchased by the county or the state, and 
preserved vdi\\ care in some fire-proof building or vault. 
They were not long in jail until Lewis effected a gen- 
eral jail delivery. The conformation of his wrists and 
hands was such that he could divest himself of hand- 
cuffs. The sherifi' was George W. Barker : the jailer, Eli 
I^ichart. One morning as Eichert entered the cell, leav- 
ing the key in the door, Lewis quietly slipped out and 
locked him in, and set all the prisoners free who were 
willing to go. One man rc-mained in and refused to go 
out. Thomas Williams. John McCurdy and Ethelstone 
Scott, besides Lewis himself, and his associates Connelly 
and Hanson, were the prisoners liberated. The tradition 
is that they locked up both the sheriff and his deputj^ in 
the jail. Rewards for their apprehc^nsion were offered 
by the sheriff of Bedford county and the Governor of the 
Commonwealth, and liundreds of citizens scoured the 
country in i)ursuit. Notwithstanding a fresh fall of 
sno^\^ Lewis and Connelly escaped. The others w^ere 
speedily captured. The story is that Lewis and Con- 
n(41y were crossing Wills Mountain into Milliken's Cove 
])v tlie Packers Path, and that Sherifi* Barker and his 



David Lewis, the Robber. 253 



party weiv> iii close pursuit; that tlic pursuint;' party 
made some noise by whicli the attentive cnir of L(^wis 
was warned of their approach, and that he and Connelly 
stepped aside behind a lar^e rock (shown to this day as 
the Lewis rock) by which they were concealed until the 
sheriff and his party went by. They stood within a rod 
of their pursuers, and heard theii' conversation as they 
passed, and then emerging- from their hiding place took 
the back track by the path down the mountain and 
escaped. 

The whole state was excited over the escape, as the news- 
paper notices of the day, some of which are here given, 
indicate : 

" Hanson, one of the fellows who robbed McClelland, 
was tried at Bedford last week, found guilty, and sen- 
tenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for seven 
years. Lewis and Connelly have not been heard of since 
they broke out of the Bedford jail." — Huntingdon Gazette, 
January ^11, ISW. 

"On Wednesday night, the 19th instant, an attempt 
w^as made by two men to rob the house of Mr. Besore, 
who resides in the lower part of this county. They 
failed, and in endeavoring to escape one of them was 
caught and on Thursday morning was lodgt^l in Carlisle^ 
jail. He proved to be the notorious robber and coun- 
terfeiter, David Lewis, who, in company with Connelly, 
escaped from the Bedford prison some ninc^ uKjnths 
since. Lewis' (companion, who eluded the vigilance of 
the neighbors, is supposed to have been Connelly. After 
confinement in jail he was on Tuesday morning removed 
to the jail of Franklin county, said to be the strongest in 
the state. The jail of this coimty was said to be insuffi 



254 Reminiscences and Sl^efcJu 



cieiit for his safe keeping-." — Carlisle Volunteer, April 
iJ7, 1820. 

" Oh, fve : David Lewis, the notoiious niaraudei, yes- 
terday morning- about three o'clock, made his escape from 
the Chambersburg- prison, taking- with him every person 
in confinement except one — particulars when we g-et 
them.' — Harrisburg Republican, May ^6, 1820. 

" The persons who made their escape from the Cham- 
l)ersburg- jail with David Lewis were Felix McGuire, 
John Meyers, Csesar Rodney (a mulatto) and Peter Pen- 
dleton (a neg-ro). The latter has been taken and returned 
l)y two young- men of this place. The rest are at liberty. 
A reward of three hundred dollars has been offered by 
the sheriff of Franklin county for the arrest and return 
of Lewis, and twenty-five dollars for each of the remain- 
ing: four. Althoug-h the j^risoners had the use of the 
keys in their escape, the manner in which they g-ot them 
is without satisfactory explanation." — Harrisburg Repub- 
lican, June 2, 1820. 

Pennsylvania, ss : 

In the name and by the authority of the Commo7iwealth, 

by William Findlay, Governor. 

A Proclamation. 

Whereas, I have received information that on the morn- 
ing- of the 25th inst., a certain David Lewis, who had 
])een charg-ed with the robbery of John McClelland, mer- 
chant, of the city of Pittsburg-h, and apprehended and 
(•onfined in the jail of the county of Franklin, did make 
his escape from said jail, and hatli hitherto eluded the 
pursuit of the officers of justice of said county. 

And whereas, the reputation of the g-overnment, the 



David Ltwi.s the liohhc/-. "255 



peace and security of its citizens, and tlie obli.^-ations of 
justice and humanity recjuire that the i:>eipetrators of an 
otiense so atrocious sliouhl be brouerlit to speedy and 
condii^rn punishment, I have, therefore, thouo-ht proper to 
issue this prochimntion, otterini;' a reward of o)i<' hundred 
dolhirs for his arrest, payable on conviction. 

Given under my hand and the o-reat seal (^f the (Com- 
monwealth this 31st day of May, 1820. 

Said Lewis is about six feet hio'h, round-shouldered, 
straig-ht and well-made, athletic and active, sandy hair 
and whiskers, and had on a half-worn blue suit. 

By the Governor: 

James Trimble, 
Deputy Secretary of the (^onmiouwealth. 

The first appearance of Lewis in Bedford was in 1815 ; 
the record of the court of oyer and terminer shows that 
he was arrested in the fall of that year charg-ed with four 
different offenses of passing- counterfeit coin and bank 
notes. He was named as David L. Wilson, otherwise called 
David L. Phillips, otherwise called David Lewis. In Jan- 
uary, 1816, four indictments were returned tru<' bills. In 
one of them William Drenning-, William Drenning-, Jr., 
and Lewis Drenning- were joined with him as defendants. 
On the ITtli of February, 1816, he was tried, convicted 
and sentenced to six years imprisonment in the peniten- 
tiary at Philadelphia. He was defended by Georg-e Burd, 
a prominent attorney of that day, and Charles Huston, 
afterward president judg-e of this judicial district and m 
judg"e of the Supreme Court of the State, who made a motion 
in arrest of judg-ment, assig-ning- as g-round some irreg-u- 
larity in the convening" of the court of oyer and terminer 
to try the defendant. The case was taken to the Supreme 



256 RettiiniscenciiS and Sk<'fcli<-'<. 

Cowvi, and. on the 4tli of September, ISIG, was affirmed. 

Meanwhile it seems Lewis in some way broke jail and 
escaped, but how I have not been abl<' to learn. The 
quarter sessions docket shows this entry: "Aug-ust 7th, 
1816, presentment of the grand jury respecting the escape 
of David Lewis." I made a dilig-ent search among dusty 
old records for this paper, in the expectation that it would 
furnish some interesting- information, l)ut on finding it at 
last, was sorely disappointed: the grand jury reported 
that, after hearing- the evidence, they were unable to learn 
that any one was to blame. The sheriff at that time was 
Thomas Moore, g-randfatlier of Mr. Walter Moore. 

Lewis evidently had money and powerful friends. He 
had eminent counsel to defend him. His case was con 
tinned from January to February, on the ground of the 
absence of material witnesses. He g-ave bail for his ap- 
pearance, Jonathan Cessna and Jeremiali James becom- 
ing his sureties, and finally the case was taken to the 
hig-hest court - 

After his escape he must have been recaptured and im- 
jn-isoned, but when, or where, or how this occurred I have 
not been able to ascertain. It appears, however, that he 
was pardoned ])y Governor Findlay. Powerful })olitical 
influences must have been broug-ht to bear to accomplish 
this, and the pardon had much to do with Findhiy's de- 
feat for reelection by Hiester in the fall of 1820. 

Lewis died, from a gunshot \\ound, in the Belief on te 
jail in 1820, and soon after his death there appeared a 
l)aniphlet, entitled: "The confession of David Lewis;" 
published in Carlisle by John McFarland, and prepared 
(but not avowedly) by James Duncan, who had been Lewds' 
attorney at the time of liis ti'ial for desertion from the 



David Lewis, the Robber. 257 



army. With enoug-li of the facts of Lewis' career in it to 
g-iA'e it verisimilitude, its real object was to hold Gover- 
nor Findlay up to animadversion for having- pardoned 
this noted criminal. It is full of covert insinuations 
ag-ainst Findlay and the so-called court-house clique at 
Carlisle (one of whom was Joseph Ritner, then sheriff of 
Cumberland county and afterwards Governor of the state) 
and was prepared with consummate skill for the accom- 
plishment of the purpose for which it was desig-ned. The 
assault was made on Findlay's line of battle at a point 
where he was particularly unable to rally foi'ces for his 
defense. It was cleverly disg'uised, too. In fact he and 
his friends were in the dilemma of not being- able to 
notice it at all without g-iving- it additional pi'ominence in 
the iniblic eye. It was circulated g-enerally throug-hout 
the state, and was universally read because of the inter- 
est or curiosity to learn of the life and death of the noted 
ro])ber. A number of copies of it are yet in existence. 

Lewis was bom in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 4th 
of March, 1790, on South Hanover street. His father 
was LeM'is Lewis, who removed in 1793 to Northumber- 
land county where he followed surveying- as appears by 
several returns of survey to the land office mad*' by him 
as deputy surveyor. His mother, whos<^ maiden name 
was Drenning, was a sister of William Dreiuiing, who 
lived and died in Bedford township on the plac(^ now 
<)^^'ned by Joseph I^emiller, and in whose nam<; land was 
waiTan ted adjoining the Manor of Bedford in 1794. Sam- 
uel Drenning, son of William Drenning, was a cousin of 
David Lewis. Fiom my i-ecollection of him and the de- 
scription given of David Lewis there must havt^ ho.i^w a 

strong- resemblan(5(^ in personal a]ip<'arauce Ix'twoen these 
17 



258 Reminiscences and Shetclics. 

cousins. Lewis spent a g-ood deal of his time among- his 
kinsfolk of this country soon after the war of 1812. 

He had two brothers, Caleb Lewis, a single man and 
common day -laborer, who worked at tlie forg-e at Miles- 
burg", near Bellefonte, and was a civil and harmless man, 
and Thomas Lewis, a married man, who lived with his 
family at Belling-ton fui*nace, also seems to have led a 
quiet life. Lewis' father died soon after his removal to 
Northumberland county, probably about 1796, when 
David was six years old. His own mother died several 
years before and his father remarried. After his father's 
death his stepmother removed to a house on the turnpike 
noi-thwest of Bellefonte, and David continued to live \\dth 
her until 1807, when he enlisted with a recruiting- party 
at Bellefonte. He was, no doubt, a wild and bad boy. 
He was the young-est son and had grown up under a step- 
mother who seems to have been very fond oi him, but 
with necessarily very little power to restrain him. Very 
soon after his enlistment he deserted. In a short time 
he again enlisted under the name of Armstrong- Lewis in 
a company of lig-ht artillery, commanded by Captain 
William A. Irvine, and was taken to the bari-acks at Car- 
lisle. There he attempted to get a discharge^ on the 
ground of his being a minor, ])ut seventeen years oi age, 
and employed, as a lawyer, Mr. Metzg-ar, wIk^ sued out 
a Avrit of habeas corpus before Judge Creigh who de- 
cided against him and remanded him to the custody of 
the military. The fact of his desertion and double en- 
listment came out at the hearing, and he was tried before 
a court-martial at Carlisle baiTacks, which ^\'as then undei- 
the command of General Wilkinson, and was convicted 
and sentenced to be shot to death. He wrote to his step- 



David Lewis, the Bobber. 259 



mother, who came at once, riding on horseback, all the 
way from Centre county, across the Seven Mountains to 
Lewistown, down through the long Narrows to Mifflin, 
and so on to Carlisle — a weary journey of nearlj^ one 
hundred miles, on a horse borrowed from Judge Walker, 
who then presided over the Eighth judicial district and 
resided at Bellefonte. The Judge sympathised greatly 
with her and wTote earnest letters to his friends at Car- 
lisle in her behalf. Proof of his age was made by the 
family Bible which she carried witli her and produced. 
A second uTit of habeas corpus was sued out by able 
attorneys, Andrew Carothers and James Duncan, before 
the president judge, James Hamilton, who, however, re- 
fused to interfere, and remanded the prisoner to the cus- 
tody of the United States military authorities. Event- 
ually he was reprieved by the President and his sentence 
was commuted to imprisonment. He sawed off the ball 
and chain from his ankle with an old knife and escaped 
and concealed himself in a cave on the banks of the Con- 
(idoguinet Creek near (>arlisle, from which Ik^ afterwards 
went to his stepmother's, wliere he lay concealed for a 
f(n\- weeks, initil he met a peddler who was circulating 
(counterfeit money, made at Burlington, V(^rmont. A new 
field of operations presented itself to his imagination, and 
h<^ made his way gradujdly to Bui'lington, where lie was 
instructed in the secrets of thf^ mainifactur<^ and stnrtcd 
out in tlie career of gambler and counterfeiter. He 
bought a horse and paid for it in count(^iiVdts, and was 
arrested and lodged in jail at Troy, New York. He was 
a handsome young man, of fine figure and address, and 
was aided to escape by the jailor's daughtei', and l)y a 
3''Oung girl who lived near, who liad seen Jiiin tlirough 



260 Reminiscences mid Skeickcs 



the bars of the window from a house opposite and fell in 
love with him. This g-irl fled with him and they ^^'ere 
married at Alban3^ After living- a while at Albany he 
went to New York city, where he consorted with gamblers 
and counterfeiters. Thence he went to New Brunswick, 
New Jersey, where he set up as a housekeeper. A 
daughter was born there. His wife, with her child, re- 
mained there whilst he made excursions, plying his voca- 
tion as a gambler and circulator of counterfeit money, to 
Princeton, Philadelphia and elsewhere. He kept his 
wife in ignorance of his business and visited her from 
time to time. Finally he left her, and went into the State 
of New York and joined the army then under the com- 
mand of General Alexander Smith, as a wagoner, but he 
soon stole a horse and deserted, and went to Stoystown, 
Somerset c;ounty, Pennsylvania. Here he heard of the 
death of his wife soon after giving birth to a second 
child — a daughter named Kesiah. At Stoystown he or- 
ganized a gang of counterfeiters, and soon after traveled 
to Chambersburg to procure suitable paper from Shry- 
ock's paper manufactory. His appearance or conduct ex- 
cited suspicion, and Shryock r 'fused to sell to him. He 
then \vent to a paper mill in Virginia, and got a su|)ply 
by ni'^aus of a sample whicli he had stolen at Shryock's. 
He returned with the paper to tlie gang jit Stoystown, 
and manufactured a large amount of counterfeit bank- 
notes, which they cii-culated at Bedford, Somerset, Union- 
town and Brownsville. Soon after this he married a girl 
in Fayette county and went to housekeeping tliere. 

To the present generation, accustomed to paper money 
so perfectly made by the general government and so 
rarely counterfeited, it may be well to state that it was 



David Leivis, the Robber. 261 



by no means so difficult to successfully make and pass 
counterfeit money then as now. Before the war every 
locality had its bank of issue. Their number was leg-ion, 
and counterfeits were so numerous that detection of 
them was a study and an art. A book descriptive of 
counterfeits was the usual and necessary appendag-e of a 
merchant's store, and even with its aid and the most care- 
ful scrutiny it was difficult to detect the fraudulent notes, 
and many were in circulation. And rings or combina- 
tions of men, many of them in business and pretending 
to respectability, were engaged in j^assing counterfeit 
money. 

The records of the Bedford court show a part of LeAvis' 
(•archer by the following entries : 

In the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Bedford county, 
Pennsylvania, before the Honorable Jonathan H. Walker, 
President Judge, and John Dickey and David Field, As- 
sociate Judges. 
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania i 



No. 2, Jan. Term, 
1816. 



r. 
David L. Wilson, otherwise called 

David L. Phillips, otherwise called 

David Lewis. 

Indictment for passing counterfeit bank notes, January 
5th, 1816, on moticjn of George Burd, Esquire, case con- 
tinued oji account of the absence^ of dcd'endanfs wit- 
nesses. l'\'bruary l.Stli, 1816. jury railed, elected and 
swoin, wlio find the defendant guilty. February 2()th, 
1816, diaries Huston. Es(piire, files a motion in arrest of 
judgnn'ut. Fe])ruary 22d, 1816, defendant sentence h1 to 
pay a line of one dollar and to \)o imprisoned in the jail 
of I^x'dford eonntv for ten hours. 



262 Reminiscence.^ and Sketches. 



The Commonwealth of Peunsylvauia 



I No. 3, January 
I Term, 1816. 



David Lewis, William Drenning-, 

William Drenning-, Jr., and Lewis 

Drenning-. | 

Indictment for passing counterfeit bank-notes. A true 
bill. Defendants plead not g^uilty. January 4th, 1816, 
AVilliam Drenning tent in $1,000.00, with Georg-e Burd and 
Jacob Hickman in $500.00 each as his sureties, for his ap- 
pearance during the i)resent term of court. January 5th, 
1816, W^illiam Drenning- and Samuel Funk as his surety 
tent in $1,000.00 for his appearance on the 12th of Feb- 
ruary, 1816, and Lewis Drenning-, with William Dren- 
ning as his surety, tent in $1,000.00 for his appearance on 
the 12th of February, 1816. Februai-y 12th, 1816, case as 
to the Drenning-s continued to April Term, at which time 
a )iolle prosequi was entered as to them. 

Comm(m wealth of Pennsylvania | 

I No. 1, February Term, 

David Lewis. J 

Indictment for j)assing counterfeit bank-notes. A true 
bill tiled 14th Feb., 1816. Feb'y 17th, 1816, nolle prose- 
qui filed. 
Same I 

V. I No. 2, Feb y Term, 1816. 
Same. ; 

Indictment for jiassing- counterfeit bank-notes. A true 
bill tiled 14th Fel)ruary, 1816. February 17th, 1816, nolle 
prosequi tiled. 
Same 

r. ; No. 3, February Term, 1816. 
Same. 



David Lewis, the Robber. 263 



Indictment for passing- counterfeit bank-notes. A true 
bill filed February 14th, 1816. February 17tli, 1816, the 
defendant being- arraig-ned pleaded not guilty, jury called, 
chosen and sworn, to wit : John Smith, Thomas Allender, 
Henry Boor, John Hammond, Jolin Alexander, William 
Boor, William Todd, John Cook, John Byerly, Peter 
Wertz, James Adams and Peter Smith, who say they find 
the defendant g-uilty on the first, second and third counts 
of the indictment, and not guilty as to the fourth count. 
Same day Huston, for defendant, moves in arrest of judg-- 
ment. Motion oveiTuled, and defendant sentenced to six 
years' imprisonment in the penitentiary at Philadelphia. 
Writ of error to the Supreme Court received and filed. 
September 4th, 1816, judg-ment of the court of oyer and 
terminer afiirmed. 
Same 1 

V. ; No. 4, February Term, 1816. 
Same. ! 

Indictment for passing- counterfeit bank-notes. A true 
bill. February 21, 1816, defendant plead not g-uilty. 
Jury chosen and sworn, who find the defendant not g-uilty, 
Imt to pay the costs. 

In the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Bedford county, 
Pennsylvania, before tbe H(morable Charles Huston, 
President Judg-e, and Abraham Martin, Assocnate Judge. 
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania | 

V, j No. 3, January 

David Lewis, John M. (V)nnelly and | Term, 1820. 

James Hanson. 

ludictmcmt for rol)b(^ry. A ti-uc 1)111. January 7th, 
1820, Jauies Hanson being arraigned, pl<'ads not guilty. 
Ju)-v called, ctt-., who find defendant guiltv. Sentence, 



No. 5, January 
Term, 1820. 



264 Reminiscences and Sketches. 

seven years in the penitentiary at Philadelphia. April 
24th, 1820, process awarded to Cumberland county for the 
arrest of David Lewis and John M. Connelly, returned 
non sunt inventi. 
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 

V. 

David Lewis, John M.Connelly, James 

Hanson, Thomas Williams, John 

McCurdy, and Ethelstone Scott. 

Ladictment for breaking- jail. Lewis and Connelly not 
taken. The other defendant convicted and sentenced. 

The name Connelly was assumed. The man s real 
name was Pumbaug-h. He Avas a larg-e, coarse-looking 
man, of a low g-rade of intellect, and was completely 
under Lewis' influence. Jimmy Hanson was a small man. 

After the escape of Lewis and Connelly from the Bed- 
ford jail, they proceeded to Doubling Gap, in Cumberland 
county, and then to Petersburg, in Adams county, then 
to Conewago Hills, in York county, and afterwards to 
East Pennsboro' township, in Cumberland county, and 
from there to tlie house of a Mr. Besore, that stood near 
the end of the bridg-e over the Susquehanna at Harris- 
burg, and attempted to rob it in dayliglit in the absence 
of the men of the household, but Mrs. Besore seized a 
long tin horn used for calling the men to their meals, and 
ran up-stairs and got out on the roof and sat on the trap 
door to keep it down, and blew the horn, at the sound of 
wiiieli tlie men eame and pursued the flying rol^bers and 
captured Lewis, Connelly escaping. 

Lewis had a strong hold on the country people. They 
admired his ag-ility, nerve, self -poise and boldness. He 
v/as g(^Tierous, and must have had kindness of heart. 



David Leivis, the Robber, 265 



The sympathy of the people aided him ^^reatly in escap- 
ing- and avoiding- capture. 

A citizen of Cumberland, Maryland, attended a horse 
race at Brownsville. In those days horse racing and 
betting- on the race, were common amusements. Every 
country town had its race-lane, Bedford among- the num- 
ber. I remember, when I came to Bedford, in 1844, that 
a quarter race was an almost dailj' afternoon occurence. 
Ben Cromwell, Sheriff Compiler. William Reynolds, Jr., 
and a few others, were always ready to back a Bedford 
steed kept for the j)urpose, ag-ainst the horse of any 
traveler who had ten or tw^enty dollars to risk, and the 
chief avocation of divers citizens seemed to be to sit in 
the front street at the Bedford House, or elsewhere, with 
a view to hailing- any likely-looking- passing- traveler and 
challenging- him to a test of speed, in which more or less 
money was staked. That was before the time of county 
fairs, for which the race-lane was in those daj^s a sort of 
equivalent. As the story g"oes, the Cumbeiland man pretty 
well cleaned out the Brown svillians, and besides that 
rail his horse ag-ainst another, horse for horse, and won. 
He was returning- the next day. riding- the horse he had 
won and leading" tlic other. At a lonely wooded plac-e in 
a mountain ravine, liis own horse Avas walking- jdong- be- 
liind with the halter tied upon his neck, when suddenly 
a strang-er hvqxMl over a bank, and caug-ht and mounted 
tlie liorse, and rode along-side, and saluted him pleasantly. 

and entered into conversation, expressing liis admiration 
tor the horse whose ])erformance. he said, he had seen 
tlie day before, and ('Xi)ressed his desii-e to buy him. 
The owner declined to sell: said lie had <»wn(-d him a 
long- time and i)ri/e(l liini liiglily. At tlie sam'- time lie 



266 Reminisc&rwes and Sketches. 

noticed the appearance of a pistol in the stranger's 
pocket, and was in no easy frame of mind, but he con- 
cealed his ag-itation as well as he could, and arriving* at a 
spring dismounted and asked the stranger to partake of 
some apple brandy out of a quart flask with which he 
had provided himseK. Several diinks were taken, he 
drinking moderately and the stranger more freely. They 
again mounted and traveled on, the horseman conversing 
as entertainingly as he could, and endeavoring to conceal 
liis uneasiness, and treating his companion to another 
drink from the flask until he became visibly enlivened 
and in a good humor. The conversation turned on the 
loneliness of the mountain road and the danger of rob- 
bers, when the stranger pulled out his pistol, and 
expressing his indifference to fear, asked the horseman 
if he had ever heard of Lewis, the robber, who had 
escaped from jail and for whose arrest large rewards were 
offered. The horseman said he had, and believed him to 
be not a bad kind of a man ; that he was a brave man 
and generous, and that he would like very much to see 
liim. " Here in the momitains r' said Lewis. " No, not 
exactly that," was the reply, "still I dcm't think he would 
rob or kill a man like me." "You would really like 
to see him then?" said Lewis, pretty well under the 
influence of tlie genial applejack. "Yes, " said the man, 
almost quaking with fear, *' I would." " Well," said Lewis, 
"You see him now. I am Lewis. I intended to rob you 
of your money and this horse, but you liave treated me 
like a gentleman and we have had a pleasant ride to- 
gether and I will do you no harm." 80 saying he sprang 
from th(^ horse, handed the halter to the owner, and dis- 
appeared in the woods The horseman rode on at a ([uiet 



David Lewis, the Rohger. 267 



g-ait until he was hid by some inequality in the road, 
and then put his horses to their speed, thankful lor his 
escape, and not without alarm that Lewis mig-htrea])pear 
at any turn of the road. 

Another tradition is that after he made his escape from 
the jail at Chambersburg- some farmers in the search for 
him in Adams county overtook a well-dressed, fine-looking* 
strang-er riding- on an excellent horse, with all the ap- 
pearance of a g-entlemanly traveler, whom they addressed 
and asked if he had seen anything- of Lewis, the robber, 
who had escaped from jail and whom they were in search 
of. He replied that he had not so far as he knew, and 
inquired what sort of a looking man he was. Never hav- 
ing- seen him they described him as well as they couhl 
from the information they possessed, but with entire in- 
accuracy. Satisfied from their description that he was 
unknown to them he joined with them, to assist in hunt- 
ing- &ow\\ the villian, and rode with them for several hours 
and made himself ag-reeable by g-eneral conversation, in 
quiring the names of the party and their residences, and 
finally leaving them with a courteous sahitation and the 
expression of a hope that he would have the pleasure^ of 
renewing his acquaintance with them on some future oc 
casioii. 

He and his g-ang robbed a travclcM- oner in thr All<> 
gheny Mountains. Lewis en tt;red into (Mniversjition with 
him and found that he was a near i-elation of a gc^ntlcman 
who had don«' liimsoinn service in a timr of trc^ublc. Hr 
returned to him his money and i^olitel}^ expressed icgret 
at having put him to any annoyance. Connelly, who 
grumbled his dissf^nt from this proceeding, was immedi- 
ately silenced by Ijewis with an oatli and a tlireat. 



268 Beminiscences and Sketcheti. 



The cave at Doubling- Gap was one of Lewis' frequent 
resorts. He had also a den in the heart of the mount- 
ains on the other side of the Cumberland Valley about 
three miles from Pine Grove, and a c^ave on the Conedo- 
g^uinet a mih; from Carlisle. 

The last robbery committed by him was in the Seven 
Mountains, between Lewistown and Bellefonte. In June, 
1820, he and Connelly waylaid and robbed a wag"on 
which was transporting store goods of merchants named 
Hammond and Pag-e. A posse was org-anized by Sheriff 
McGee, of Centre county, of well-armed and resolute 
men, who went in pursuit. They were eng-ag-ed in shoot- 
ing mark on the Sinnemahoning- branch of the Susque- 
hanna, when they were surrounded and challeng-ed to 
surrender, which they declined to do and immediately 
opened fire on their jiursuers. Connelly was shot with a 
ritle V)ullet throug-h the body and died the next daj\ 
Lewis was shot throug-h the rig-ht arm near the elbow. 
He Avas taken to tln^ jail at Bellefonte, where he died 
about three weeks after his arrest. 

Thomas Burnside, afterwards Judg-e, and John Blan- 
chard, afterwards a member of Cong-ress, and botli then 
members of the bar of Bellefonte, were meml)ers of the 
coroner's jury which li<4d an incjuest on the body of 
Lewis, who found that McGee and his posse were justi- 
fied, that Lewis had ccmmiitted a felony of the g-oods o( 
Hammond and Page, some of \\hich were found on him, 
and having- been overtaken and i-ec[ueste(l to surrender, 
liad refused to do so and had tired upon the sheriff and 
his posse, who were justified in shooting him. 

Here are all the materials for the li(^ro of a novel. Few 
lives of thirty years" durition have been crowded fuller 



David Lewis, the Bobhcr. 269 

of events. H<' was a ])rc)(liu't of the war of 1812, the wild 
mountain rang-es of Pennsylvania, and tfui times in wliieli 
lie lived. A man of line physique, and of natural force, 
who mio'ht have been a useful and distinguished citizen 
if his avocation and surrounding-s had been different. 
AVitli all his wickedness, he was not destitute of admir- 
able traits. He was a born leader, far superior to Con- 
nelly, and althoug-h a deserter, a g-ambler, a counterfeiter, 
a robber and an outlaw, was not wholly bad. One can- 
not but have a feeling- of sympathetic reg-ret for a life so 
full of capabilities which was so sadly wrecked and came 
to such an untimely end. The very manner of his death 
was heroic. He w^as told that amputation of his arm 
was necessary ; that the chances were ag-ainst him if it 
was not taken ofi'. He replied, I will not lose my arm. 
I would rather die than live a one-armed man, marked to 
be known of all men, and a cripple. I will take my 
chances. And so, accepting- the inevitable, without 
whining- or complaining-, with thf^ dignity of an ancient 
Ivoman, he died. 



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